Royalty
by Window.Of.Dreams
Summary: His smirk only grew infuriatingly bigger, "do you know who I am?" Mikan scoffed and glared, "I don't live under a rock! I know exactly who you are." The boy raised an eyebrow and she answered seething with anger laced in every syllable, "You're the moronic prince of this country."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish for it every Christmas to Santa Claus, no. I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

"That will be three hundred and eighty yen." The cashier says monotonously.

A young girl with sparkling brown eyes and a brilliant smile hands the money to the cashier and picks up the groceries. She waves the cashier good bye enthusiastically and even when she gets a dreary farewell, her spirits remain unhampered.

She skips home with the plastic grocery bags worn on each wrist like bracelets. It was a warm summer day, school was starting tomorrow and it was the final year in high school, something all teenagers look forward to, graduation.

The girl stops occasionally to exchange greetings with neighbors or to pet a dog or simply to bend down and smell the colorful flowers that were in full bloom at every yard of the street. When she gets home, she puts the groceries away and gets started on dinner, blasting music as she works.

Hours go by until the front door opens and a woman with short brown hair and hazel eyes identical to her daughter's comes waltzing inside and greets the girl who just finished preparing a dinner for two. The woman puts away her keys and takes down her high ponytail, running her hands through her hair as she walks in the kitchen and sniffs the air appreciatively.

"Mmm, smells nice, what did you make?" The woman grabs plates and pours water into glasses as she sets the table. The girl grins at the woman, "Steak and potatoes."

The woman's smile widens as she takes her seat on the table and regards the meat, "special sale?" The girl takes a seat opposite of her mother and says proudly, "half off."

"Nice," she says and happily devours her dinner. As they eat, and exchange pleasantries, the news goes off and catches their attention.

"_It has been reported as of today that Prince Natsume will be attending Gakuen Alice this year as a senior student." The news anchor, a beautiful woman with dark skin says smiling to the camera._

The woman turns to her daughter in surprise, "isn't that your school?"

Mikan nods numbly staring wide-eyed at the TV.

"_The young prince will be turning eighteen this year and starting his official duties as the crown prince of Japan. As of next year he will be accompanying the king in his royal tasks. It has been rumored that the young prince's fiancé is actually a student within the school and this is a way for them to meet and spend time together. This has been confirmed by many authentic resources but as of now, doubt lingers." _

Mikan blinks as the anchor starts going off about many of Prince Natsume's qualities, mainly his handsome looks and quiet personality. She scoffs at the TV and turns back to her steak.

Her mother smiles at her, "Not looking forward to studying with the hot prince?" she raises her eyebrows suggestively.

Mikan's face twists as though she tasted something bad, "that's not it, now school will only get noisier…and annoying." She almost flinched, thinking about the fan girls that drooled over the senator's son, Ruka Nogi. How would they react when a prince would be among them? Being a scholarship student among the rich and posh students of Gakuen Alice, Mikan needed to work hard to stay in, unlike most of the kids that simply went to school for appearances. After all why should they struggle and study when they have enough wealth to last a lifetime?

Mikan looked up as the news broadcaster showed a picture of Natsume Hyuga, scowling at the camera. She furrowed her eyebrows at his perfectly chiseled face, they would go crazy; yes, the fan girls would make her deaf for sure.

Her mother, Yuka smiled teasingly, "oh come on, it won't be too bad. Just think about all those fairytales, you might end up falling in love,"

Mikan grinned dimply, "Yes, oh right. That's very assuring."

Yuka nodded seriously, "make sure to seduce him, think about all the meat we can get if you become the princess."

Mikan snickered, "Yeah we can eat steak everyday."

"And the desserts, French pastries, Italian sweets, chocolate bon with tea…" Yuka says dreamily.

Mikan laughed, "Mom, you're not seriously thinking of selling me to royalty for food, are you?"

Yuka grinned, "Well I wouldn't oppose either."

Mikan smirked, "well maybe I would be the princess if I was the only girl left in the academy," then added, "Or the world." She turned to the TV as the news anchor finished off the exciting news.

"_This could mean a lot to the students of Gakuen Alice. They get to study with the prince and spend eight hours with him under the same roof. Especially the females, one of them may turn out to be our future queen."_

Mikan rolled her eyes, as if the females at school needed any more reason to attack the prince of Japan. She almost felt bad for the guy. Well, almost.

Japan was divided between a monarchy and democracy. The power was divided between the government and the King. Of course the citizens were told that they had all the power, but of course, they knew better. The power lies mostly with the government as the citizens elect them. The king could be dismissed by the government but the law is that the successor must be of royal blood. So in many ways, the power was divided.

As Mikan walked in through the double doors of Gakuen Alice Monday morning, she realized with dismay that her going deaf theory was right. Shrieks and high pitched voices screamed the same name that had been on the news all night.

"Natsume-sama!"

"Your highness, please accept this!"

"Prince Natsume, what class are you in?"

Mikan was tempted to cover her ears like a little kid. She couldn't see the prince as he was surrounded by a circle of female fans. A really big circle. It seemed like the whole female population had gathered in the hallway, ready to pounce on the beautiful prince at any moment. Curiosity got to Mikan as she walked towards the crowd wanting to see the caged prince. As she got closer, she realized that would be impossible without loosing patches of her hair and possibly a few limbs. She decided it was certainly not worth it.

But just as she was turning away she got pushed by a throng of girls trying to enter the predatory circle. She fumbled and lost her footing, cursing her terrible balance, and fell face first inside the circle. Once inside, she was pulled in three different directions at the same time and before she knew it, she was falling into the middle of the circle.

She got ready for the impact but it never came as strong arms encircled her waist. She froze and looked up into deep red eyes.

Her eyes widening, she found her footing and hastily started pulling away only to be stopped as the same warm arms tightened their hold on her and the prince pulled her to him. She was frozen stiff as she felt the boy hug her and then _pat her head._

What the heck? Still frozen in shock or maybe just star struck she stood in the circle of this stranger's protective embrace.

After moments of shocked silence from the whole school it seemed, the boy pulled slightly away and said loud enough for the whole room to hear, "Where were you? I've been looking everywhere." He looked at her with such concern that she blanched, her heart racing, she whispered out, "I-I…" before he cut her off and put her hand in his, "Never mind, we're getting late for class, come on." And he pulled her away from the frozen female crowd.

She could barely register what was going on until they reached her classroom and the confusing and beautiful boy let go of her hand. He looked at her with the same smoldering eyes and grimaced, "Here, and don't let anyone know about what happened." He handed her a wad of money from his back pocket and walked away towards the classroom door.

Mikan looked down at the money in her hand and blinked. It was a bunch of thousand yen notes balled up. She looked up at the boy who was arrogantly walking towards the door. Then down at the money in her hands, and then back up at the boy's retreating back, suddenly something inside her cracked.

Just as the boy walked through the doors into the classroom she stalked up to him and threw the money at him. It fell like flower petals around him and he mechanically turned towards her with wide eyes. Mikan was red in the face and huffing with anger.

"I. Am. Not. A. Charity. Case." She said enunciating each word, then added "your highness." She was seething. It was one thing to be arrogant but then to do _that._ As if she wasn't already aware of her low status in the school. Who did this infuriating boy think he was? Ok, so he was the prince, but that didn't mean he could trample over someone's pride and dignity like that. To think her heart raced for this idiot.

"What?" He said half surprised, half angered.

But by then she couldn't hear him because the crowd had grown loud and they were surprised not only at the display but also the fact that the Prince would now be one of their classmates. She moved aside as boys and girls alike rushed towards the prince in excitement. She quietly made her way towards her seat in the back.

She tried to focus on the lesson in class but it seemed that not even the teacher could contain her excitement and was doing a poor job of explaining 'Protein synthesis.' Not like anyone noticed, they were too busy ogling their newest classmate who Mikan realized to her annoyance kept glaring at her from across the room. With a heavy sigh Mikan gave up and returned his glare, deciding to scowl back at him for the rest of class.

When the bell rang for lunch, she was the first one out the door but was stopped by a deep velvety voice.

"Wait." She stopped for a moment but decided to pretend that she didn't hear anything and kept walking. She could hear footsteps behind her and was getting ready to run but then the boy said, "Wait you stupid polka dots," and she froze on the spot.

She turned around with exaggerated annoyance, "What did you call me?"

The boy smirked, "It's not my fault you flashed me your underwear when you fell into my arms."

_Unbelievable._

Mikan turned crimson as the air around her cackled with electricity, "You-you perverted idiot!" She thundered.

His smirk only grew infuriatingly bigger, "do you know who I am?"

Mikan scoffed and glared, "I don't live under a rock! I know exactly who you are."

The boy raised an eyebrow and she answered seething with anger laced in every syllable, "You're the moronic prince of this country."

"Then you should know that I have the power to throw you out of the country." He said examining his fingernails as though the conversation bored him.

The gesture only angered Mikan further, "And you should be aware that I can let the whole world see you for who you truly are."

The boy actually jeered at this, "My words against yours, who do you think they'll believe?"

Mikan was speechless for a moment before she cried in frustration and stalked away leaving the boy in amusement.

"Mom! I'm home!" Mikan said walking in and taking off her shoes.

She saw that there were two other pairs of shoes next to her mother's and hers. She glanced at them quizzically for a moment before heading inside. She stopped when she heard voices coming from the kitchen and called out, "Mom?"

"In here, sweetie," she heard her mom's voice and exhaled in relief.

She walked into the kitchen and froze for the second time all over that day as she saw her mom standing next to two men in black suits, black sunglasses and matching buzzed hair.

But what made her heart stop beating were the words that they uttered, "Hello, we come from the royal family to greet you Princess Mikan." And they knelt.

**A/N: Hi guys…so I haven't been finding many stories to read and get lost in so I just drabble my own to get lost and disconnected from the world because, who doesn't want to escape reality once in a while? This one was pretty random; but tell me what you think and if you want me to continue, thanks guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish for it every Christmas to Santa Claus, no. I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

Mikan had stopped believing in fairytales long ago. She once believed in them, she believed in true love, in fairy godmothers granting good girls their wishes, in dreams coming true and dashing princes rescuing their damsels in distress just like all little girls with eyes too bright, dream of. But then, against her wish, she was robbed of such beliefs when her dad abandoned her mother and her. So when girls kept on believing that their handsome princes would come riding on their white horses, she knew from enough experiences of waiting long nights with her mother and holding her shaking body all the while waiting for her dad to come back and rescue them that it wasn't true, that waiting was in vain and that there were no princes who would come to her rescue, how could there be when men could only abandon and break? No, she could never be a princess. Never be wanted by a prince or adored by others, she could never be a hero when she was left broken. As a child she came to an early realization that she was on her own and that the only fairytales that she would experience were in storybooks.

So when she stood there as two strangers bowed in front of her and gave her all the grace and respect that a princess of a story would get, Mikan felt hollow. She looked towards her mother for an explanation for all this absurdity, but her mother's expression only confused her more and gave her the haunting feeling that her mother knew something that she didn't.

So instead she turned towards the men who were still kneeling again. She walked towards them and bent to their level feeling ridiculous. "I'm sorry, but there has got to be some mistake." She said evenly and started getting up as they straightened.

They looked towards one another and then towards her mother who simply stared at Mikan with a soft frustration that made Mikan grow pale. When it was clear that her mother wouldn't be giving any answers the two men in black turned back to her and responded, "We know you may be confused, but this is not a mistake. We actually thought you were more informed…" The men turned back to Yuka who finally snapped back to attention and frowned at the two strangers who were looking questionably at her.

She straightened up and spoke to the men in an icy voice that Mikan had never heard her mother use; she didn't even know her mother was capable of being this cold, "I have some things to talk to my daughter about and I would appreciate it if the royal family would give us space."

The men looked at each other before the taller of the two replied politely, "of course, we will let the king and queen know. They eagerly wait for your response but you should know that this matter has been leaked to the media so we will need an answer within two days."

Her mother's glare could freeze volcanoes, "We need more time than that."

Mikan snapped her gaze to her mother. Time? Were they really going to think seriously about this? Was there any doubt that her answer would be anything but a no?

The men seemed to visibly sweat and Mikan felt sympathy for them, "We're really sorry, but that is the king's command. You see this matter is not only important to Japan but worldwide. So we really need an answer in two days time because the prince must marry by the end of the week, the day after his eighteenth birthday."

Mikan gaped and despite herself asked, "Why? Why does he have to?"

The men turned to her, almost grateful for a chance to look away from Yuka's intimidating glare, "It's the law. The prince must have a wife when he takes on the role of the crown prince as an adult."

Mikan blinked and before thinking, asked again, "Well can't you change the law?"

The men turned quiet for a moment before the taller one spoke again, "Well it has never been considered. It has been the case for a long time now, it is tradition that all crown princes take on a wife and tradition is something that the royal family puts in high regard, for what are we, without our culture and the traditional ways that those before us have made?"

Mikan was speechless. That was their reason? What a stupid reason! This was the 21st century; no one got married at 18! She looked at the men as though they had acquired another head. The men looked back at Yuka, feeling uncomfortable with Mikan's gaze only to feel more awkward with her mother's icy one.

The men cleared their throats and spoke looking at the ground, "Well then, we will come on Wednesday to take your daughter, Mikan Sakura to the Palace if that is what you decide on." And with that, they leave the house.

Mikan looks at her mother as the door closes and engulfs the two females in a thunderous silence. Realizing Mikan is going to have to be the first to break the silence, she asks her mother, "What was that about?"

Her mother turns away and sits on the sofa, Mikan mimics her, sitting opposite to see her mother's facial expressions. When she said nothing, Mikan prodded, "Mom?"

Her mother sighed deeply and put her head in her lap, her reply was muffled but Mikan heard her loud and clear, "It's your dad."

Mikan's mouth fell open, she was caught off guard, "What?"

Her mother looked up and Mikan could see the pleading in her eyes as she explained, "I never told you all the circumstances as to why your father left us."

Mikan recoiled and held up a hand, "Mom, stop. Why are we talking about dad?" Mikan didn't want to hear it. Just hearing her mother saying the words out loud made her flinch, '…_your father left us.'_

Her mom's eyes softened and she sighed. It was a terrible sound, it made Mikan feel old, like she had lived lifetimes watching her mother hold in her words and feel pain without ever showing it.

"Sweetie, you need to hear this. I would never tell you this and I thought I would never have to but, now you need to know." Her mother took a shaking breath.

Mikan readied herself for the worse, she got ready for the impact that she felt coming, but when her mother said the words, she knew that even if she was given a forever to prepare for this, it wouldn't have been enough. "Your father is dead."

Mikan's mind went blank, she felt her insides go numb and only her mother's words resonated in her head, over and over again. She felt all expressions slip from her face and with emotionless eyes looked up to her mother and choked out a, "what?"

Her mother pressed her lips together, and Mikan registered vaguely that this hurt her mother as much as her "Sweetie, he died a week ago. He left behind nothing for us but he did leave you inheritance."

Mikan couldn't bother with what he left or what it was but she knew that it was important or else her mother would never mention it, not without letting her process the first news. "What did he leave for me?" She couldn't hear herself but she did hear an echo which she guessed would be her voice.

Her mother held her gaze for an intense moment and replied evenly, "He left you Japan. He gave you the key to rule over it."

Mikan nodded numbly, slowly processing, "An engagement to the prince."

Yuka didn't answer and watched as Mikan slowly nodded and excused herself for the night. Her mother knew better than to tell her to stay for dinner, she knew neither of them would be able to eat tonight.

Mikan stumbled into her room and without any sensation made her way to her bed, sliding under the covers. She was shivering, she didn't know why; all of a sudden every part of her had gone cold. She lay for a few moments and then automatically, as if her body had stopped listening to her mind, it acted on its own and she shuffled towards the corner of the room and kneeled down, opening the floorboards there. She pulled out a music box and a picture. She opened the box and listened to the melody, feeling her body warming as it always did by listening to the tender tune and watching as the prince danced with his princess to the song. She gazed lovingly at them, resting her left cheek on her knee. Slowly, tears started forming and blurring her vision, but they didn't spill until she took out the photograph and let her heart burst with the weight of loosing a loved one. She looked at the picture which felt like it was taken during a past life, where a little girl with pig tails and eyes too bright grinned toothily at the camera and the handsome man next to her watched her with a loving expression as he held her in his arms. Mikan cried all night.

She hadn't cried this much since she was young. She had never felt pain this terrible since the day her father left and then never came back. But then she promised herself after that that she would never cry again. She could almost laugh at the irony; she ended up breaking her promise for the same reason. This time though, it was different. He was gone, really gone and there was no chance of seeing him again. He wouldn't surprise her one day by showing up at her door, she wouldn't run in to him in the street by accident, and he would never come back when she needed him most, as is usually the case in movies and books.

It occurred to her that night, how fragile a human heart could be and how easily bonds could break and just how weak love was. She realized that unconsciously, she had been waiting. She thought that she wasn't but not a day had passed that she didn't think he would come back, for her. That was how hope was. It broke all logic and made you unreasonable. And now that was gone too, it should've been a relief, not having to wait on the sidelines, but it wasn't. It was painful to have no hope at all.

She cried out of loneliness, and called out to her dad in the dark, only to realize all over, that he didn't exist in this world any longer. She cried for the little girl who only got a few years with a father and she cried for the girl who would never have a father for the rest of her life. There would be no one there to protect her from the world, to walk her down the aisle, to be the grandfather to her children. She gasped for air, feeling as though a part of her heart would never be whole again. He had taken it with him where she could not follow.

When the sun rose, she watched it with dried tears. She wiped her eyes and closed them feeling the sun's warmth on her face.

She opened her window and breathed in deeply. She would not cry another day or another night. She would not. He had left her for a second time; he didn't deserve to be bawled over like this.

Never. She thought, never will she weep over him like that. What had he ever done for her but break her over and over? She put back the music box and the photograph. With more feeling she got up and took a shower trying to wipe away her sorrow for the past eight years. When she was done she felt lighter but her heart still pressed painfully against her chest, she knew that was a pain that may never disappear and if it did, it would come and haunt her again and again. Death has it scars that live within you until it too consumes you one day.

It was mid day when Mikan finally left her room. She made her bed and put away the music box and picture inside the floorboards; she took a deep breath and patted her cheeks, then walked downstairs to her cozy kitchen.

"Morning sweetheart," Mikan almost jumped out of her skin as she turned to her mother's voice sitting on the table, leisurely sipping her coffee. Her mother smiled a small smile, Mikan could see it took effort; they had both spent the night crying away their sorrow. Mikan gave an answering smile and grabbed the coffee.

Her mom continued to survey her; Mikan knew what she wanted to ask but was hesitating to, "What kind of person was dad? Was he royalty?"

Her mom looked ahead at the wall almost as though she was lost in another time, "He was the crown prince's second in command." Mikan raised her eyebrows at this.

"Your dad and the crown prince were really close; they were best friends in fact." Her mom smiled ruefully, lost in the past.

"They did everything together, when the crown prince got married, his wife was jealous of their friendship. When I met your father, I was your age, he was a little older but I fell deeply for him. He was charming, handsome, and so talented. We both fell in love deeply and soon, he was proposing. I was only twenty when he proposed and I was so in love that I didn't stop to think about the future or life after a commitment. I eagerly accepted." She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Mikan with shinning eyes.

"I don't regret my decision, I never will. I loved him and I still do. But at that time, I wish I had waited a little longer. When you were born, we were ecstatic; your father stopped his job at the palace, saying it was taking up too much time and you needed him more, so he started teaching. I was happy, those years were happy." Yuka sighed and Mikan knew what was coming.

"He got a call that night. I don't know who it was or what they said, he told me not to worry about it and just go to you. I did as I was told, and waited for him. He never came back." Her mother blew out a shaky breath and blinked back to reality.

Mikan narrowed her eyes, "What happened to him, mom?"

Her mother shook her head, "The news two days later was the death of the crown prince, so I suspected something happened in the royal family that I wasn't aware of."

Mikan sighed heavily; it didn't explain why he didn't come back. Was this a mystery she would never figure out?

"Wait, that doesn't explain how he could have enough power to acclaim me as the fiancé of the crown prince." She pointed out, none of this made any sense to her.

Her mom furrowed her brows, "I don't understand. All the men that came yesterday told me was that it was the inheritance that Izumi left. I guess it has something to do with the previous crown prince."

Mikan was thoroughly confused, why would her father leave her with an engagement? Couldn't he just leave money so that her mom wouldn't have to struggle to make ends meet? Although if she did get married to the prince, she wouldn't have to worry about that either. Still, money couldn't possibly be the reason why he gave this to her, could it?

Her mother's voice broke her out of her reverie, "Have you decided on the proposal?"

Mikan snapped her eyes to her mother's. "I'm not leaving you for an idiot prince I don't even know, mum."

Yuka smiled wistfully, "That's not what I mean," Mikan looked away, "It's the same thing."

Yuka got up and sat next to her daughter, gently pushing her long hair back, "sweetheart, I'd rather you not get married at sixteen, not worry about leaving me."

Mikan grinned, not taking the conversation seriously, "Maybe I'll get married and steal all their meat and then get divorced."

Her mother sighed, "Mikan, life at the palace is lonely, as beautiful and inviting as the castle looks, it's not at all like that. You will be alone and everyone will look towards you, people will go to lengths to mock you and bring you down. It's a hard life, and while I have no doubt that you can handle it, I don't want you to do something half-hearted."

Mikan nodded, it wasn't like she had ever thought of actually ruling a country or getting married anytime soon. In fact, she didn't think she would ever be able to trust a boy enough to give her heart to him much less get married to him and promise to be his forever. She had already seen how real life stories ended, and in them, there was more heartbreak than happiness. As for ruling, she still hadn't decided what she wanted to be in the future, so ruling a country was never in her plans.

She turned to her mom and shook her head, "Mom, this is absurd, you seriously want me to think about becoming a princess and throwing away everything in my life in a day?"

Her mother grinned, "You have to realize that life has its way of being dramatic and of making you go through unreasonable situations."

Mikan grinned back, "That doesn't mean I have to comply with it." Mikan turned to the window and tenderly said, "I guess there goes my last chance of knowing anything about who my father was."

Her mother squeezed her shoulder, "Actually there is something else, the men brought this with them and I was going to give it to you last night but I thought you already had enough to deal with." Her mother took out a cream envelope and handed it to Mikan.

_**Mikan Yukihara **_

The handwriting in the middle of the envelope looked eerily familiar but she couldn't point out whose it was. On the top right of the envelope, she recognized the royal seal she had seen in her text book, she turned to her mother quizzically, "What is this mom?"

Yuka grimaced slightly, "It's a letter from your dad to you, and he wrote it a week ago was what the men told me, just before he died."

Mikan gulped and put the letter in her pajama pocket, she didn't want to read it and most likely cry in front of her mother any longer.

She turned to Yuka and smiled with effort, "How do you feel about a late breakfast?"

_**My Dear beautiful Mikan,**_

_**You are so grown up, I'm watching you walk on your way back from school and it is taking all I have not to walk up to you and embrace you. You look just like your mother, you have her beauty and charm, and I'm worried there are going to be too many suitors coming for you one day and I won't be there to protect you from them. **_

_**Your mother raised you well; I can see by the stance of your shoulders that you have confidence and I see in your eyes that you are tremendously kind to others, and I am so proud of you. Your smile didn't change, it was one of the things that worried me the most, I was worried that you would forget to smile when I left you, but you didn't, you still smile as brightly and innocently as you did when I last saw you.**_

_**Mikan I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, I have many regrets but know that you were the greatest thing that ever happened to me, those years that I spent with you and your mother were the greatest years of my life and wish as I may, I can't go back there any longer.**_

_**I miss you so much, I miss you everyday and my dear, I love you so, so much. You can never know how much you mean to me, but know that there isn't any power in the world that can ever take away my love for you.**_

_**I have to keep this letter short as time is running out. I know you are very confused, you just found out that you are betrothed to the prince of this country. Mikan, I want you to get married to him. I know what I'm saying is so unreasonable, and my beautiful Mikan, I would never let you marry anyone for as long as I lived if I had the power to, but I am desperate and out of options and as unfair as it is for me to ask this of you, I know you'll listen.**_

_**There are evils in the palace that I could not stop, there are bad times coming and unless someone stops them, we are all doomed. I would never let you go into danger but I know that if it's you, you'll be able to do what is right. You've always been so brave, and you always do the right thing, it sometimes amazes me that you are my child. This is unreasonable and I can imagine your mind going in circles, but Mikan I would never ask you to do something unless I thought you could do it, and I know you can.**_

_**You have disappeared into the corner of the street and I know that I can't follow you there, there is so much more that I wish to tell you, but alas, our time has ended. I'm sorry it was so short, and I wish beyond all reason that I could throw away everything and come running to you, but I can't. I am chained in so many places.**_

_**But I love you so much, I always have and I always will no matter where I am. Even if you can't see me, I'll be watching over you.**_

_**With much love, **_

_**Your father**__._

Mikan read the letter three times over, trying to make sense of it but again coming up with nothing. She felt stray tears escape and wiped them furiously, stupid dad, what have you ever given me but sorrow, why should I ever listen to what you have to say?

But she knew as she looked up to the sky and found the polar star as the echo of a past memory came to her that her choice was made the first time she read the letter.

_A little girl with pig tails looked up at the sky and shrieked in her high pitched voice, "Dad, look at that star! It's the biggest!"_

_The man next to her chuckled and looked up as well, "It's the polar star."_

_Mikan turned to her dad with shining admiration, he knew about everything in the world, he was so smart, "A polar star?"_

_The man smiled and scooped up the little girl in his arms, his eyes danced as he looked at the girl tenderly, "Yes, it points north sweetheart, it's the end of the handle on the little dipper. If you're ever lost, follow it and you'll find home."_

_The girl was quiet and nodded thoughtfully, "So you'll be on the polar star?"_

_The man blinked and then grinned widely, "Yes, I'll be on that polar star pointing you the right way."_

Just as she had in the memory, Mikan looked up at the North Star and wiped away her tears, then whispered to the dark, "Are you pointing me to the right direction right now, dad?"

Mikan didn't sleep all night again. She packed all her things along with her dad's gifts and his letter. She was restless, she turned on the TV but when she saw that she was on the news, she turned it off hastily. She packed and unpacked all night going back and forth. Was she crazy for doing this? She would go read her father's letter and be determined only to think of her mother and let her determination fall altogether. When morning light came and she heard a limo pull in front of her house, Mikan was exhausted.

She walked downstairs with hair resembling a haystack and skin that looked a bit too pale. She walked to her front porch and realized that it wasn't only a limo that had pulled up but also the vehicles of what seemed to be hundreds of reporters. She blinked as flashes from every direction blinded her and she registered a bit slowly that the reporters had just caught her in pajamas and bed hair, not to mention her face without being washed on camera. She couldn't even feel the horror of the picture being on TV anymore, the night had probably dulled her senses.

"Miss Sakura, have you made your decision?" One reporter yelled at her, Mikan turned to her but before she could pin point which one it was, another question was thrown at her.

"Is it true that you and the prince have been on friendly terms from before?" Mikan gaped, what?

"Some of the children have said that the prince hugged you in front of the whole school, is that true?" Her eyes widened, were they talking about how he used her to get away from his fan girls?

"Is it true you're childhood friends and he proposed long ago?"

"Are you in love?"

"Did he really take you to Venice and get down on one knee last year?"

Mikan's head spun, she was going to faint if they didn't let her process what was happening. Then as though the men had heard her silent plea, the same two from before came and stood protectively in front of her as about a dozen others who were dressed in the same black suits and sunglasses got out of the three limos and made a protective half circle in front of Mikan.

The shorter of the two men who shielded her from the reporters opened her front door and led her inside as the reporters went haywire behind her.

"Are you alright Ms. Sakura?" The men asked in concern.

Mikan rubbed her temple and nodded, not trusting her voice.

The men looked to her worriedly, "Is you mother home?"

Mikan nodded again and looked around for any sign of Yuka. She walked upstairs and knocked on her bed room door, it was six a.m., and normal people would be asleep.

"Mom?" Mikan called out to the door. When there was no answer, Mikan twisted the doorknob and entered her mother's room. Lying on the bed with the covers twisted around her, was Yuka, Mikan could tell she was restless, her eyelashes kept quivering and she was mumbling. Mikan's resolve almost broke all over but she held on the tiny pieces of her dad's words that she remembered.

She knew she couldn't tell her mother, she wouldn't let her go, saying it would be far too dangerous. With a shaky breath, Mikan walked over to her mother's bedside and scrawled a tiny note, she knew she was being a coward, but it would be too hard to say good bye to her otherwise, this was easier.

**Hey mom, **

**I know you're going to think that I'm crazy but I have decided to get married to the prince. I read dad's letter and he told me that he thought it was a great opportunity. Mom you always encouraged me to do the best I can and to make my own choices. You told me that even if things go bad, it's ok, all I have to do is learn from those mistakes and they'll never happen again. So I know that even if at first you'll be mad at me for this, you'll forgive me and eventually support my rash decision that I know I'm not giving you enough explanation for.**

**I know it won't be easy. Marriage is something I'll have to compromise on, I can't stay locked away like a princess so when the time comes, I'll escape. For just a little while, I want to see and know what dad does, I have only a few memories of him, I want to know him and when life gets hard at the palace, I'll imagine dad being there, and maybe I'll find him in some book, or some hidden mark on the castle wall.**

**I love you a lot and I will miss you so much, **

**Mikan.**

It had seemed as though Mikan's life had really taken a turn for the dramatic, with letters on every corner and a castle awaiting her arrival. If she had the time, she would stop and laugh at her life but since she didn't, she simply bent over her mother and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

She left her mother's room quietly and went to the washroom, quickly and thoroughly brushing her teeth and washing her face, she changed into a pair of dark jeans and a black button down shirt that she thought looked decent. She didn't know what to wear when meeting the royal family but she knew that whatever it was, she wasn't going to find it in her closet.

She smoothed her hair and put it in a low pony tail where it tumbled down to her waist. With one last look in the mirror, she grabbed her suitcase and satchel from her room then walked down the stairs.

The two men in dark suits took her suitcase; she was really going to have to learn their names. She turned around and took one last look at the house trying to commit it to memory, knowing she wasn't going to see it for a while. Then, before she could let herself fall into sorrow again, she walked out the doors and was greeted by more flashing cameras and reporters tumbling over one another to ask her their questions. It seemed as though their number had doubled in the last half hour.

Mikan forced a smile as she walked to the limo with as much grace as she could muster in the early hours of the morning. She got into the limo and watched as her house disappeared behind her. There, now it was too late to go back on the decision without humiliating herself in front of all of Japan. She had made the rash decision and now she was going to have to stick to it.

With a nod of determination, Mikan turned in her seat and looked out the window as she made her way to the palace to be among complete strangers.

"_Mikan Sakura, as of yesterday was just another ordinary girl, but today, she is the fiancé to the crown prince of Japan and the future queen of this country. With an average height of 5'4, Mikan-sama has long sparkling mahogany hair and a deep set of hazel eyes. All in all, she is quiet a pretty young girl and her smile can melt glaciers; her looks would complement the prince's usual stoic and cold but beautiful features_."

The TV blinked to show a girl with long brown hair in a black button down and a simple pair of dark jeans.

"Pretty?" He muttered to himself, "Please, she's so plain, it's painful." He looks away from the TV as the news caster describes her charming qualities, being especially smart as she is a scholarship student at Japan's most renowned education facility.

That caught the boy's attention; he had thought she was another rich student at the prestigious school. But before he could ponder on it, the TV blinked again and the news anchor smiled with amusement as he talked about his fiancé.

"_A picture has come in of the lovely Ms. Sakura, soon to be Mrs. Hyuga; it seems she has greeted the reporters early in the morning dressed in quiet some charming apparel."_

The TV turns to the picture of a girl with messy hair that seemed as though a chicken nest was within it and in Pajamas shorts and a tank top, there was obvious sleep on her face and she had a comically blank expression on her face.

Despite himself, the young prince cracked a smile of obvious amusement, the girl was definitely princess material.

**A/N: WOW. I was sooo surprised by the reviews, I almost had a heart attack when I checked my email in the morning and it said that I had twenty five new mails in my inbox. Thanks guys, there was no better way to wake up. So here is the next chapter, I hope you like it, don't worry, the next one will be better, with more Natsume x Mikan! **

**Oh and also I don't know who it was (the reviewer was called Guest) but yes you are right! I did get my inspiration from Goong, the k-drama. I thought I mentioned it before…but anyway, the story won't be the same, the drama had too many boring political issues that bored me…well, anyhow hope you liked this chapter, and thanks so much again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: As much as I wish for it every Christmas to Santa Claus, no. I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

What have I done? The thought echoed in Mikan's head again and again. She looks towards the main door, blocked by two bodyguards, her gaze turns to the back door which she realizes to her disappointment is also guarded by a man in a dark suit and sunglasses. She gulps turning towards the window and mentally estimates her chances of escaping through it. She was a really good climber, she was told by her mother several times that if she were an animal, she would be a monkey. Still, there were a lot of guards in the room, many who had possibly mastered judo or karate.

So she had to admit, her chances weren't too good. She would probably never reach the window much less jump through it. She loosened her collar, starting to feeling stifled, much like a prisoner in jail.

"Mikan-sama?" Mikan turned to the maid clad in black and white, "Yes?"

"The King and Queen are on their way from the throne room." The maid bowed lowly and Mikan wasn't sure if she should reciprocate.

"Oh, Ok," Mikan replied and bowed swiftly then straightened quickly to flatten the wrinkles on her clothes and make herself as presentable as possible for the royal figures. She was aware that she was in a makeshift living room, most likely designed for guests like her to make them feel more comfortable. It wasn't working, what normal living room consisted of diamond chandeliers and real gold tapestries? She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was standing awkwardly in the middle of the beautiful room too jumpy to sit down and too anxious to walk around.

Its okay, Mikan tells herself, so what if they're royalty? They're still people. Only, they're people who rule the country and have the power to deport her to another country if they want. Not that they would do that, unless they really don't like her…but they wouldn't go as far as to exile her, would they?

Okay, so talking to her self wasn't helping, Mikan looked around the room to distract herself from her thoughts which seemed to be growing and resembling a nuclear bomb. A painting caught her eye, the brunette moved towards it to get a closer look and realized that it was the picture of a young girl with beautiful long raven hair, her eyes were rich and deep but they seemed familiar, Mikan couldn't help but feel as though she had seem that pair of bottomless red eyes before. But what caught Mikan's attention wasn't the girl's graceful stance or beautiful features, but her smile. It was genuine and striking, the girl seemed to smile so brightly without any effort; it was radiant. The picture comforted her, the girl's confident and kind smile gave the impression that nothing in the world mattered.

She came to her senses by a loud cough followed by someone conspicuously clearing their throat. Mikan turned around bewildered and almost fell to the floor. Standing about six feet away from her were the king and queen of Japan.

And just as she was afraid of doing, Mikan froze. Standing like a statue, with her mouth agape, she stared at the two royal figures with a look that could only be classified as rude. She was aware that her fingers lost all feeling and she was dismally conscious of the teacup falling from her hands to the floor and breaking into a thousand pieces.

In years to come, Mikan would laugh about her first meeting with her in-laws, how she had managed to make herself look foolish despite all her steel determination. She had most likely made her mother-in-law and father-in-law rethink their decision about their son's marriage to this imprudent girl.

But they were royalty, and they had most likely expected her reaction for they weren't perturbed in the least and only welcomed her graciously. She stood unmoving as the beautiful queen whose picture she had seen on every event that was categorized in beauty and grace walk over, evading the broken teacup elegantly; she embraced the wide eyed girl warmly. For a minute Mikan went rigid all over not knowing what to do with the unexpected tenderness but then slowly her shoulders relaxed and she returned the hug with what she hoped was as much warmth as the queen bestowed upon her.

The queen released her and held the stiff brunette at arms length, her hands holding each arm firmly as the woman scrutinized her future daughter-in-law affectionately. The queen smiled and Mikan wasn't sure but she felt as though the smile held much wistfulness and sadness.

"You look just like your mother." The queen gently squeezed her shoulder in a way that starkly reminded Mikan of her own mother.

Mikan's eyebrows furrowed, how did the queen know her mother? She was about to ask but was interrupted as the King joined his wife and pulled out his hand in a polite manner. Mikan stupidly stared at it for a moment before bringing up her own hand and shaking his hand clumsily.

She was surprised by his gesture, it wasn't cold exactly but there seemed to be something reserved about it, but then she knew nothing of what kinds of personalities country leaders were supposed to possess.

The queen claimed her attention again as she spoke gently to her, "Come Mikan, have a seat, we have so much to talk about." Mikan was astonished at the way the queen said her name, so easily and without hesitation, like she had known it and spoken it all her life.

They walked over to the makeshift table and Mikan took a seat across from the queen while the King sat at the head. Despite the chairs having velvet seats Mikan felt like she was sitting on millions of rose thorns, she had the strong urge to jump and run away without ever looking back at this beautiful palace she was soon going to have to call home.

To her surprise the king was the first to speak although she thought she saw the queen elbow him. "I take it that you've decided to get married?" The king's voice was a lot like his son, smooth and velvety, although where the prince held coldness; the king had a detachment and cool politeness that Mikan had heard from many politicians on the news.

Mikan nodded and then realizing that she hadn't spoken even once since meeting them so she elaborated, "Yes, your highness." She said in a surprisingly even voice though it was much too soft. She smiled at the two of them in what she hoped looked like happiness.

The king nodded and turned to his wife as if to say, your turn, the dazzling queen grinned charmingly at Mikan and spoke, "We're happy to hear that, we were sure you would refuse." Then curiously the queen asked, "May we know what changed your mind?"

Mikan thought about lying, she could say it was for fun, or she was in love with the prince even if uttering such words would leave an unpleasant taste in her mouth and ragged rocks in her stomach. She could even say that her family needed the money that the king and queen would give for the princess's family to live in comfort and it would be believable no matter how discourteous and vulgar it sounded. She would wonder later why she told the queen the truth, maybe it was the way she looked at Mikan, with such honesty and adoration that it reminded her of how her mother would look at her sometimes.

Whatever it was, it had made Mikan stumble and talk without so much as a second thought, "My dad did."

To her surprise, the king started choking on his tea, he coughed violently and she watched in shrewd stillness as one of the bodyguards ran over and started patting his back. The queen looked blankly at her husband, her face holding no emotion. Mikan realized later that she almost killed the king by speaking without thinking.

When the king had recovered and the bodyguard resumed his position with a wary glance at Mikan, the queen spoke again sounding untroubled; she asked the stoic young girl in front of her "Your father convinced you?"

"Umm," Mikan stuttered as she racked her brain for a sufficient answer without revealing that she was essentially on a secret mission sent to her by her dead father to discover the palace's secrets and some diabolical plans behind the scenes. "I heard from my mother that my father used to work here and I've always wanted to aid the royal family so it seemed like a good opportunity." There, that sounds okay, she thought.

The Queen's expression was unreadable, "You want to aid the royal family? How?"

Mikan hoped the queen couldn't see the sweat accumulating on her forehead, she emptied her mind and cleared her throat, she had to make her answer as honest as possible, she had a feeling the queen could see through her lies, "The royal family holds power to bring change and aid this country's people, by helping the crown prince, I feel I would be able to do something noble in life." Mikan closed her eyes for a moment and mentally slapped herself; that sounded so stupid.

The queen narrowed her eyes, the only indication that she wasn't a marble statue, all her gentleness from earlier was gone, she meant business. She didn't talk coldly to Mikan but she talked without emotion which was equally terrifying, "How would you aid the crown prince?"

Mikan swallowed, she hadn't really thought of what she would do as the prince's wife, what were the duties of a princess anyway? She thought back to all the Disney fairytales she watched as a child but nothing rang a bell, all the princesses in those movies did were dress up and sing to birds. She tried to clear her mind of fairies and glass slippers and seriously think of a sincere answer to give her intimidating almost mother-in-law.

Mikan pondered with what she would do with power, she had never been a very ambitious person so she had never dreamed of controlling or leading anyone, but if she was given a chance to make a difference and help others, she should do it, right?

Without her consent, her father's face appeared behind her eyelids and a thought came to her, _what would dad do? _

She didn't want to think of him, she wanted to forget everything about him but she was at a loss, and as is usually the case, he always appears when she needs help. She imagined his graceful figure walking around in the glorious walls of the palace, maybe with a book in his hand or next to the previous crown prince, laughing or smiling. The image warmed her heart and a small smile bloomed at the corners of her lips, she looked up at the queen with a soft expression and perhaps something else on her face that she was unaware of that made the queen blink in surprise.

"I will guide him as a friend, my mother told me that was the role that my father played in the previous prince's life and I want to follow in his footsteps. I will try my outmost to fulfill my role as a princess and as a wife but most of all I will be a companion to the prince." Mikan didn't know where those words came from but after she had said them, she felt something whole in her heart.

The queen smiled softly and her eyes retained their warmth and affection for Mikan, the king too seemed impressed by Mikan's words and his face held an acceptance.

Mikan realized her test was over and she had passed. She smiled warmly at her new family feeling a bit reassured; maybe, just maybe she could belong among these graceful and beautiful entities.

Dead wrong, oh so naively wrong she was to even think so. Her mouth was open and she was gaping at the room in front of her. Her room was as big as her entire house that she lived in with her mother. The walls were ivory, there were maroon silk bed sheets and pillow cases, and she had a plasma screen TV in the middle of the room with beige sofas and a computer to the side with a bookshelf as big as her room.

No, she would never be able to get used to living in such luxury. She walked towards the window and opened it; it was attached to a balcony with a white railing. Mikan walked to it and looked outside towards the garden with flowers whose names she didn't know and in colors she didn't think they had. She felt like she was in a dream.

She looked to her right and realized there was another balcony about five inches from hers. Briefly she wondered whose room was next to hers and why it was so close, as all the other rooms beside her were at least ten feet apart. She shrugged; it was probably her maids' room or something.

She walked towards the bed and touched the sheet lightly, scared of marring it with her hands filled with labor and work. The fabric was soft and light to the touch, unable to control her self; Mikan jumped to the bed with glee and fell on the pillows it felt like she was lying on clouds, softness and fluff everywhere.

She stared at the ceiling and hummed softly, all the while trying to wrap her mind around the events of the day.

_I'm at the palace. I'm the fiancé of the prince. I'm going to be the princess of Japan._

She shook her head, she still couldn't believe it. Turning to her side, the princess to be closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber in the middle of the day.

"What do you think of her?" A man with dark brown hair and hard hazel eyes asked the woman across from him.

The beautiful woman with dark hair and brilliant red eyes smiled sadly as she ran her hand over a velvet pouch, "she looks like Yuka."

The man's gaze hardened and he looked away from his wife, "she has Izumi's brightness."

The woman grinned wistfully and tenderly opened the small purse, "She's a promising child, don't you think?"

The man continued to look out the window with a soft frustration and a deep sadness as he answered, "She seems clever, if we're not careful she'll find out what happened eight years ago."

The queen looked up as she heard these words, the couple's eyes met and it was the queen who looked away from her husband this time, "Then we'll have to make sure she never finds out."

The man's eyebrows crinkled and he frowned, "Do you think Yuka said anything."

The woman looked back at the man's statuesque face and smiled tenderly, "No, Yuka probably hid it; she doesn't want to tell her about who she really is either."

Mikan awoke several hours later, a look at her wristwatch indicated that it was close to midnight. She had slept through the day, with a yawn and a lazy kick in the air the brunette jumped out of the soft bed. It was like having to wrestle with herself to just get out of that bed; she was going to have more trouble than usual in the morning from now on.

She caught her reflection in the vanity mirror as she dished for the night gown the maid from before informed her was waiting for her in there. Her hair looked like a bird's nest, she tried smoothing it down but only made her locks more entwined. After five minutes of trying to fix her impossible hair Mikan gave up with an exasperated sigh. She found her silver silk gown and walked towards the door by the bookshelf; she had realized earlier that there were two doors in her room and if the other one led to the hallway and the rest of the palace then this must be for the bathroom? Why else would there be an extra door?

She started unbuttoning her black shirt as she walked to the door and twisted the knob. She was about to pull it off her shoulder when she stopped and comprehended what was in front of her. Less than twelve feet from her lay the arrogant crown prince she had thrown money at just yesterday. Shirtless with head phones in his ears and a magazine in his arms.

She looked back and saw her own room through the door she had left open. Mikan looked back and realized that the she had the prince's attention. The boy slowly took out the head phones from his ear not taking his eyes off of her. Distractedly she looked down at herself and realized that her shirt was gaping open and her stomach and bra were showing. She looked up in horror at her fiancé and screamed an ear piercing scream.

The crown prince flinched and covered his ears as a reflex from the earsplitting cry. But he recovered quickly and masked his expression before the brown haired intruder could catch it. The girl quieted to hear the yells from outside the prince's door as half the castle gathered after hearing the loud noise.

She gasped and covered her mouth, then looked at the raven haired boy who was still lying in his bed comfortably. He raised an eyebrow at her and she looked at him with confusion before realizing that her shirt was still open. She dropped her night gown to the floor and hastily wrapped her shirt around herself.

"Your highness?! Is everything alright?! We heard a loud noise from your room!" A guard from outside yelled.

"Should we come in?!" Another guard spoke as the first quieted down.

Mikan's eyes widened as she turned around and got ready to dash to her room to save herself from further embarrassment.

But she froze in her tracks as a smooth voice spoke to her, "wait."

Mikan turned around and stared at the crown prince wide eyes.

The prince spoke to the guards outside not taking his eyes off Mikan, "Go away, everything's fine."

The noises from the door subsided and the room was filled with pin drop silence, Mikan stared at the prince not knowing what to do or say.

The prince tilted his head to the side and smirked at the girl, "Well, this is a surprise."

The girl blushed a hundred different shades of red before stammering, "I-I, my room connected…" She pointed towards the door she came from as if that was explanation enough.

The prince nodded understandingly and jumped out of his king sized bed. He walked closer towards the fidgeting girl who took a step back with his every step closer.

When they were only inches apart the boy stopped and in the same arrogant and proud voice spoke, "So, you decided to take advantage of our joined rooms? A bit early don't you think? They haven't even given you a ring yet."

Mikan gawked and it would've been comical if not for the growing anger in her eyes, she didn't know what to say, she didn't think she could talk without spitting in the prince's infuriatingly beautiful face.

The prince seemed to take her silence as an affirmation of his theory as he moved closer until there was an inch between the two, "Not that I mind, but for future reference, polka dots is not my type, too childish for my taste."

It took a minute for his words to settle with Mikan, she realized belatedly what he was talking about; she pulled the shirt tighter around herself, her mind exploding with embarrassment and anger.

The boy leaned in and Mikan in her state of anger acted without thinking as she pulled her fingers together and made a fist which she collided with side of the boy's gorgeous face. The boy stumbled back unprepared from the force the girl's punch delivered. He almost fell but caught his balance at the last moment.

He looked at the girl with wide eyes filled with surprise that was slowly melting to anger, the girl didn't step back; it was her turn to walk towards the boy. She stopped a few inches from him and spat, "It. Was. An. Accident. And don't you dare try that again on me."

The girl didn't wait for the boy's reply or his anger; she walked back towards the door she came from with dignity and purpose in her posture. The stupid boy always made her lash out angrily without thinking; she always ended up doing stupid things with him near.

She locked the door behind her and leaned against it feeling her heart beat frantically. Her anger still hadn't subsided and she held her bruised knuckles which were aching for a second shot. She fell asleep in that position till dawn.

She awoke the next morning to the chirping and chattering of girls with black and white attire. Her maids. She sat up suddenly as the events of the previous night came to her, her head hit the door behind her and she yelped.

The maids turned towards her and helped her off the floor, "Are you alright Miss?" The maid was beautiful with dark pink hair and sparkling blue eyes, Mikan felt as though she was looking at a character from a fairytale.

She blinked and nodded, "Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine." She walked towards the sofa and sat down, her back had turned rigid and her shoulders hurt.

"Was the bed not to your liking?" A second maid with blue hair so dark it seemed almost black asked her.

"What? No, it's perfect." Mikan said hurriedly, and then elaborated at the looks of confusion on the maids' faces, "I fell asleep while sitting there."

The maids nodded and continued to sweep her already clean bedroom and change her bed sheets. She was glad they didn't ask why she had been sitting by the door.

As they worked Mikan got up and fished out her tooth brush and paste from her bag, she was about to walk out the door towards the hallway when the maid stopped her, "Miss, if you're looking for the bathroom, its right here," The maid pointed towards a glass door with pastel curtains in front of it that barely concealed the bathroom.

Mikan wanted to hit herself, how had she missed that? She thanked the maid and stepped inside the porcelain bathroom walls.

After brushing her teeth, Mikan started searching in her duffel bag for clothes to wear. She pulled out a black hoodie, jeans and a plain t-shirt. She was about to walk back in the bathroom when she was stopped by the same maid from before, she called out to her softly, Mikan turned and the young girl clad in black and white smiled apologetically at her as she said, "The queen requested that you wear one of the dresses prepared for you."

Mikan turned to see dresses of a thousand different colors laid on her bed and sofa. She would've looked surprised but nothing could beat the fact that her room was connected to her fiancé's room, so she walked towards the colorful outfits and selected the plainest of the bunch.

She did squeak in surprise when the maids started undressing her and at her look of shock they explained that they were to help her dress. She tried dismissing them and refusing their help but she found that she actually needed it for she didn't know what a corset was much less how to tie it.

Though when she found out what it was she found it hard to breathe with it tied like a second skin. When she was dressed in the blue dress with simple gold sequences at the bodice, the maids moved on towards her hair and asked if there was something she specifically wanted them to do.

She asked for a normal pony tail and was refused and fearing that a bun might require pins she asked for a braid. The maid with blue eyes did a French braid on her while the dark haired maid put tiny yellow flowers in it. Mikan could've settled with a normal plait but she had to admit that this looked better.

The maids excused themselves after telling Mikan that breakfast will be served in ten minutes and that the royal family had already gathered and she was to join them soon.

When they closed the door behind them, Mikan let out a deep breathe and walked out to the balcony. It wasn't too high up from here, it couldn't be more than eight feet and she idly wondered why her room was so close to the ground, weren't princess supposed to have a room high up in the castle so that they could see the whole palace and throw down their long hair so that prince's could climb up to their rooms?

She did have a very beautiful view of the garden though and Mikan decided that this would be her favorite place at the palace; it seemed to be the only peaceful area in the whole castle.

She was lost in thought as she stared at the colorful flowers; something caught her eye as she noticed movement in the garden. She narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to see what it was, her vision cleared and the as she got a good look, she realized that the shape was a human head covered with brown locks.

As the head moved, she saw that it was attached to the body of a child, Mikan watched as the little boy climbed the pillar of the castle near the garden. She was impressed by his agility as he swiftly climbed to the top of the pillar. The boy stopped moving as he reached the top and she apprehended that he was stuck. The boy had probably not expected the railing that was on top of the pillar and it seemed like he went up without a plan to how to come down. He seemed to be frozen on the fifteen feet high pillar before he started slipping, he grabbed onto the railing to keep from falling; only now to get down, the little boy would have to jump and grab the pillar but that seemed like a risky bet with the small boy.

Mikan made a split second decision of whether to yell and run down and tell the guards or to take matters into her own hand. The boy made the decision for her as his left hand slipped and he remained suspended in the air with only his right hand holding him up.

Mikan lifted her dress and climbed over the balcony railing, she caught sight of raven hair and red eyes filled with worry as the crown prince stepped out into his balcony beside hers and yelled, "Youichi!"

Then she jumped the eight or nine feet down and landed smoothly on her feet. She ran quickly towards the pillar not stopping to think how exactly she would help the boy. When she reached the pillar she realized to her horror the boy was hanging on with only three fingers which were quickly slipping. She didn't think as she started climbing the pillar with her new dress, she climbed higher and higher not aware that she had made a scene and half the palace had come outside to see the prince's fiancé climbing a pillar.

When she reached the boy she saw that he was crying, her eyes softened and she spoke gently to the boy, "Hey, its okay, I'm here and I'm going to take you down now." The girl's dress was billowing around her as she leaned close to the pillar wall and squared her shoulders.

The little boy looked at her with big red eyes that tugged her heart. He nodded and she quickly gave him directions, "I need you to lower yourself and hang on to my shoulders, do you think you can come down just a little and fall to my back?"

The boy nodded bravely and closed his eyes for a moment as he let go of the pillar and fell onto the girl's back, she didn't flinch as he dug his nails into her shoulder and hoisted his weight on her.

She smiled and it sounded in her voice as she told the boy, "good job." Then she started climbing down the pillar slowly. She heard a ripping sound and belatedly realized she had ripped her dress but she wasn't concerned, the stupid dress was only keeping her from coming down faster.

When her feet touched the ground, she felt arms around her back as the little boy was propped off her. She turned around and her eyes widened to see more than half the castle outside in the garden, she realized most of the maids and guards were clapping and she comprehended a moment later that the applause was for her.

She had the absurd thought for a minute if she should bow at her audience but she didn't get to dwell on it for she was pulled into the arms of the queen who thanked her warmly, she smiled as she was released and caught eyes with deep red ones.

She looked at her fiancé, who smirked softly in her direction and she saw what seemed to be sincerity for the first time in his eyes before he walked away towards Youichi and gently patted him on the head.

The commotion died down quickly and Mikan was dragged towards the breakfast table where eggs, scones, toasts and juices of all flavors greeted her.

Breakfast wasn't as awkward as she had thought; she sat next to the queen who was at the King's left side while Natsume sat to his right side and the little boy she saved, Youichi she was informed was his name sat next to him and across from her. She smiled at Youichi who kept looking at her from across the table, he didn't respond to her smile and looked away every time with a light blush on his cheeks. She found the gesture adorable and continued to beam at him.

During breakfast she was thanked by the king and queen in turn for saving the younger prince and the poor guy got an earful for his improper behavior. Mikan was presented with a fork, spoon and knife with a napkin on her table. When she was given scrambled eggs and a fruit plate along with toast she didn't know which utensil was appropriate under which delicacy. She frowned down at her plate and looked at her breakfast sadly, it looked really good and she wanted to eat it but she would have to keep up appearances. She looked towards the king and queen who were buttering their toast and delicately sipping their tea, she grimaced, she didn't want to butter her toast and there was no way she was going to drink tea this early in the morning. She looked at the prince and almost drew back when their eyes met. The boy rolled his eyes, the only expression on his face of mild amusement and mostly annoyance. He picked up the knife and fork and started cutting his toast into small bits then popping them into his mouth. He did the same with the eggs and then looked up at her expectantly. Mikan's face brightened and for a moment she smiled before catching herself and reminding herself of last night. The prince seemed surprised at her smile and simpered at her before going back to his breakfast.

Mikan smiled throughout breakfast and soon afterwards when it ended she found that her cheek muscles hurt from the gesture. It was a first, she had a lot of practice smiling, but maybe when the act is unreal it leaves soreness due to strenuous use.

When breakfast ended it seemed as though everyone had something to do, the king left to prepare for a meeting, the queen was having guests over and well no one knew what the crown prince had planned but he too left. A maid came in a few minutes later to inform prince Youichi that his tutor had come and Mikan was left alone on the breakfast table.

She ate slowly and chewed softly not wanting to get up. She didn't plan on doing anything for the day besides maybe going through that bookshelf in her room and scanning for any good reads.

Finally when she couldn't drag out any longer, she stood up and started walking towards the staircase to her room. She stopped as two women in black pencil skirts and white button down blouses with matching buns blocked her way.

They bowed deeply as they blocked her way to the staircase. Mikan bowed back but the women didn't straighten. Mikan looked questionably to her maids that dressed her earlier but before she could ask them, the women introduced themselves.

"Pleased to meet you Mikan-sama, I am Ibaragi Nobaro." A woman with midnight blue eyes and dark hair said, "And I am Harada Misaki," The women next to her with bright red hair and deep green eyes said.

Mikan bowed again and was about to introduce herself but they spoke again, "We are your tutors."

Mikan looked at them blankly. Tutors? What for?

She wished she hadn't asked, she wished she would stop tempting fate with her questions.

Ibaragi Nobaro, twenty one, was her tutor for languages, history, politics, current events, government and sociology. She had given Mikan an overview for this month, "We'll start with Latin since many of the European languages come from it, we'll start from Japan's history and then go to Korea, Taiwan, China and all of east Asia and then rest of Asia, afterwards you can decide on the continent you wish to study although eventually we will do them all. You have to start learning politics and government together and we can squeeze sociology in there." Then she had given her fifty books of each subject and she wanted a summary of half of them by the end of the month.

Mikan had squeaked out if they can start with Japan first since her Japanese was also too modern and it seemed as though many of the royal figures spoke with the old formed Japanese. Nobaro had grimaced then smiled before handing her twenty more books and ordering a summary of each by the end of the week. Mikan decided to keep her mouth shut after that.

Harada Misaki, twenty, seemed kind and fun loving, telling Nobaro to lighten up when Mikan felt dampened by the work she kept putting on her. But when it came to work from Misaki, it was no less frightening. Misaki was her teacher for manners, grace and poise. She, too, like Nobaro had given a swift summary of what was expected for this month, "We'll start with poise, and table manners; we will cover conversation and tea time. We also need to work on your clothing and style that's fit for a royal." At this point Misaki had eyed her tattered dress with distaste, and then moved on, "We need to work on your appearance and public speaking." Mikan choked and then spluttered, "Public speaking?"

Misaki looked a bit sympathetic before she covered her face with professional coolness, "Yes, you are going to be the crown princess, people want to hear from you."

Mikan paled but kept her mouth sealed as these words sunk in.

"Alright then, Nobaro will have the first half of the day and I will take the second. We'll alternate every month." Mikan nodded with an expressionless face. It couldn't be so bad, it would just be like school, just a little harder.

And it was only then that she realized she had school to go to, "Wait, what about school?" She asked them both with furrowed eyebrows.

Both girls exchanged a look and then Nobaro spoke up, "This is school for now. For at least six months you will be home schooled like this."

Mikan's mouth fell open and she stumbled, "But it's my last year!" She realized she sounded like a child but she couldn't just not attend her last year of high school!

Misaki smiled sadly at Mikan, "sorry Mikan-sama, but you're going to be the crown princess and there is so much that you're unprepared for, we can't let you attend school normally like this when there is so much you need to know."

Mikan looked away as tears sprang to her eyes, it was bad enough that she was away from her mother and now she couldn't even go to school, it was like she was stripped away from her life. She took a deep breath and blinked away her tears. She couldn't show weakness, not here, not when she didn't know who was on her side and who wanted her gone.

She smiled brightly with the fake happiness she had been emitting since she got here and asked her two tutors, "When do we start?"

Mikan spent two hours in the morning until lunch learning the Latin alphabet and vowels, and then she learnt Japan's history starting from the war and the first king. After that she was drilled by Nobaro on the basics of politics and they lightly touched sociology before five hours had gone by and it was lunch time. She was informed by Nobaro that normally she would have an hour and a half break for lunch but because they were behind schedule today since Mikan took an extra hour to eat breakfast she would only get fifteen minutes to eat. Mikan nodded glumly at this and quickly ate the sandwiches and drank the tea the maid with bright blue eyes from before brought in.

Misaki came in exactly fifteen minutes later and Mikan sadly put back the second sandwich she was half way through eating. She was still hungry but she couldn't just eat during her lessons, Nobaro and Misaki were both sacrificing for her, she should too.

Misaki had her change into a long green kimono with a cherry blossom pattern. Her first lesson was walking in it which she failed miserably; she wondered absentmindedly what the kimono was made out of that it wasn't ripping apart. Her dress had torn at the first sign of pressure but the kimono held out. After an hour and multiple bruises and scratches later, Mikan was able to walk in a straight line with the Kimono. Her joy was short lived as Misaki ordered her to do try this time with two books balanced on her head. It was after two hours that Mikan managed to do so.

Misaki was applying ointment on her bruises an hour later when Mikan announced she was too sore to sit and drink tea much less learn how to do it properly.

"Ouch." Mikan cringed as the redhead smeared the medicine on her cheek from where a bruise had formed when she fell on her face.

Misaki smiled apologetically at her but continued to apply medicine. "The bottle's finished." Misaki said squeezing the empty bottle. She turned towards Mikan, "do you have any other scratches or bruises that need treatment?"

Mikan nodded miserably and pulled the kimono a little to show her bruised legs. Misaki's eyes fogged up with sadness as she looked at the girl's legs but she got up gingerly and said she would be back with another bottle.

Mikan sighed loudly exhausted with pain prickling in every part of her body; she didn't think she had enough strength to make a facial expression anymore.

And she was proved right when she stared blankly at her fiancé who stood in the sunset at the open wooden doors of the room looking at her with expressionless eyes. He was holding a bag in his right hand and his other was in his pocket. He walked towards Mikan with the same arrogantly slouched manner. Seriously, someone would have to practice real hard to look arrogant and laidback at the same time.

He stepped inside and sat a foot across from Mikan as she gazed at him expressionlessly and asked, "What are you doing here?"

He frowned softly at her and in his haughty manner snapped, "Is that any way to talk to your future husband?"

Mikan blinked and her lips formed a lazy smile, she would be surprised that it was Natsume Hyuga who actually made her genuinely smile for the first time since her visit to the palace but she wouldn't realize it until years later that the first sign of true happiness in this miserable place was brought to her by the boy she thought she detested.

Instead she replied, "Well forgive me if I don't have the means to be polite after being worked to my bones."

The boy looked at her cheek and she thought she saw pity in his eyes before they clouded over and became expressionless as he answered, "Get used to it polka dots, it's only going to get harder."

She thought she had no energy and that her emotions had numbed due to the strenuous day but there it was, hot boiling anger brought out from deep inside her by her almost husband. "What did you call me?"

The boy blinked in surprise at the sudden change in the girl's mood and stared at her with emotionless eyes, this only angered the girl further, "Oi! Do you want another punch!? Didn't I explain it was an accident!?"

He glowered at her, "Don't remind me, you're lucky I was so forgiving and I didn't inform the media."

Mikan rolled her eyes, "Ah yes, so very kind of you. But don't you dare call me that again, I have a name!"

The boy's eyes seemed to sparkle a bit with mirth though his face was impassive; the look made Mikan's heart beat frantically to her chagrin, "Polka dots?" Mikan fumed and the boy smirked at that, "The name fits, don't you think?"

Mikan was about to retort but the maddening boy stopped her by handing over the bag he was holding.

Mikan blinked at him as the package landed in her hands, "What's this?"

Natsume looked away and replied in a grudging voice, "I heard from the maids that you didn't eat lunch."

Mikan opened the package and took out a cheese burger and fries. She looked at him with deep gratitude and happiness to which he rolled his eyes, "Are you going to fall in love with me just because I brought you food?"

Mikan laughed lightly as she unwrapped the burger, "No but my anger has subsided. Next time you get me mad just get me food." She sank her teeth inside the cheesy goodness.

Natsume looked at her in disgust as the cheese smeared her lips, and said in his conceited tone, "It was because of Youichi."

Mikan raised her eyebrows, "The crown prince is thanking me?"

Natsume scoffed, "Yeah right. Royalty means you don't ever have to thank or apologize."

Mikan nodded and replied, "Right, royalty means you get to be a jerk."

The boy grabs the girl's plait with flowers in it and yanks it towards him.

"Ouch!" The girl fumes as she falls to her side, loosing her balance, she gets up quickly to strike the boy in the head but he evades easily.

The arrogant boy's lips twitch at the corners and the girl finds his eyes filled with humor as he regards her offensively, "You're really bad tempered you know, first throwing the money I give you in my face and then that punch, what next are you going to do to your fiancé?"

Mikan sneered, "Stick around and you'll find out." It was a mystery to Mikan though, somehow her anger would always boil over with him, she was usually more in control but he always pressed her buttons that would make her explode at him.

The dark haired boy looks away as he says his next words, "I know it isn't much but what you did today for Youichi…it meant a lot."

The girl across from the boy grinned softly at this, "You're welcome." She says.

The boy scowls, but it didn't hold its usual coldness and harshness, it could be defined as playful but the prince of Japan was anything but good-humored so that wasn't possible.

Natsume sneered at her then, "Really, the way you climbed that pillar, what are you, a monkey?"

Mikan glowered and continued munching on her food.

The crown prince closed his eyes for a moment and turned his head towards the ceiling, Mikan took the time to analyze him, he was really good looking and if he kept his mouth shut, she might not mind being married to him.

He looked back at her and she quickly averted her eyes before he could catch her staring at him, "Don't okay?"

Mikan looked at him with confusion, "What?"

"Don't like me; don't fall in love with me." He said looking at her with his intense gaze.

She furrowed her eyebrows and then her lips twitched and she snickered, "Don't worry, that's the last thing you need to worry about."

The crown prince raised an eyebrow, "You sound sure of yourself polka dots."

Mikan ignored the use of his nickname for her, "I don't trust you." She said with her mouth full.

At his questioning look, she elaborated, "I've got trust issues, you're not the only one, I don't trust any man, if I can't have faith in you than how am I going to fall in love with you?"

"Then why do you want to get married if you're not interested in me?" He asked her with a blank expression but she could see the curiosity in his eyes.

Mikan thought about giving him the same answer she gave to the king and queen but opted for a different more honest and personal one, he had brought her food after all, might as well give a better answer, "It doesn't matter to me, I won't ever marry since I won't ever allow myself to fall in love, so really, marrying you is meaningless."

She could see that wasn't the answer he had expected from her, "You do realize that marrying me means you're stuck with me forever?"

She nodded and again answered honestly, for some reason she could tell this information would be worthless to him, she knew he wouldn't tell anyone, he had no reason to, "I know, so when I get tired or annoyed, eventually I'm planning on I don't know, running away or something."

"Don't," Mikan almost choked on her burger when he said that but he continued, "You'll never be able to run away. When the time comes, we'll divorce."

The answer surprised Mikan; she shouldn't have been surprised to find out that he had his own plans of getting out of this forced marriage but somehow the idea did shock her.

She simply stared at him after the revelation and he locked eyes with her, "I don't have power right now, no one takes anything I say or decide seriously, but one day when I'm king, I'll set you free from the chains of the palace."

Mikan nodded absorbing this, she smiled softly at him as she said, "Then until then, I'll be your friend and constant companion."

The boy looked at the girl with surprise as she said this; he had never had a companion before, life as royalty was one that was filled with loneliness, there was something in his heart that moved at the girl's words and he continued to watch the girl eat without a care in the world as his emotions thawed.

The girl was lost in thought as words from not too long ago came to her; they were the words her mother had said only the other day although they felt a lifetime away now.

"_Maybe I'll get married and steal all their meat and then get divorced."_

_Her mother sighed, "Mikan, life at the palace is lonely, as beautiful and inviting as the castle looks, it's not at all like that. You will be alone and everyone will look towards you, people will go to lengths to mock you and bring you down. It's a hard life, and while I have no doubt that you can handle it, I don't want you to do something half-hearted."_

**A/N: Phew! There is A LOT of building with this story but hopefully now things can start moving. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews guys, they're the reason I look forward to writing this story so much so thank you so much for all the support. I have so much fun replying to all your reviews too!**

**And wow, I am surprised by how many of you guys are K-drama fans, nearly half of you knew about **_Goong__**.**_** It is a pretty memorable drama so I can see how. Anyway are you guys watching the new drama, **_Heirs_**? It's is so good! Ah, Lee Min Ho, no one should be allowed to look as good. Anyway, enough of my idiocy; hope you liked the chapter! I shall try my best to update as soon as possible! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Goong (Princess Hours).**

"Would you like sugar with that?"

"Vis ut cum saccharo?"

"The weather is beautiful today."

"Tempestas pulchra est hodie."

Nobara smiled for what seemed like the first time to Mikan, "Alright, then that will be all for today."

Mikan let out a deep breath and stood up as Nobara got up from her chair, the girls bowed to one another and then the girl with deep eyes and beautiful cold features left the room.

Mikan slumped in her chair and started massaging her left shoulder; it had been four days since she had started living her new life at the castle. So far she had learned to walk in a kimono and balance a book on her head at the same time, how to 'delicately' drink her tea, the different phrases in Latin, and the history of Japan until the Kofun Period. She had done more in three days than she did in three months in school. It hadn't been easy, Misaki and Nobara would spend hours drilling facts in her brain and helping her memorize basics through mnemonics. She had been spending hours at night memorizing random facts in Japanese history, the names of politics and the different theories of Sociology. For the past few days she had gotten four hours of sleep at night, if it weren't for her maids who went through extra measures to make her look presentable by powdering her face to get rid of the unhealthy tint the fatigue left and concealing the shadows under her eyes, Mikan was sure she would resemble a corpse.

The work Nobara gave her demanded extra hours at night if she wanted to finish in time to attend her last semester of school but Misaki's work just needed effort during her tutoring sessions. Mikan was starting to get used to the labor and if Nobara's smile was anything to go by then she was definitely doing well.

Mikan put her head in her hands and waited for the maids to bring her lunch. The royal family ate their lunch half an hour ago and because of Mikan's study sessions she couldn't attend. She frequently missed dinner since she got out right when it started and because of Misaki's tutoring conference that pierced her hands and feet with poise and grace, she didn't think she could keep up afterwards and do the same for another hour. So when her lessons for the day ended, she would usually grab a snack and retreat to her room where she would nap for two hours then get up and study till dawn and then fall into a deep slumber until breakfast. Her circadian rhythm had turned upside down since she stepped foot into the palace.

She glanced at the clock and realized that Nobara had dismissed her half an hour early. She jumped out of her seat, whether her tutor had done it on purpose or not, Mikan wasn't going to stick around to find out. She dashed out of the back door where the prince had entered from days ago with her lunch.

The thought of her fiancé made her consider joining the family for lunch as it had been days since she saw him at a time other than breakfast. But Nobara might come looking for her there so she opted out of that quickly.

Instead, she decided to trail the backyard and hopefully fall upon a garden of flowers or find a shortcut to her room where maybe she could nap. The thought had her running towards the yard.

She stopped abruptly when she reached it, her mouth falling open as she viewed the large area in front of her. The back yard consisted of a golf course. The area was covered in green ground and random flags hung at calculated distances from one another. She could see to the side was a tennis court and a swimming pool. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, how big was the palace back yard?

And here she had thought there was nothing left that could surprise her. She took a step closer and started walking towards the golf track suddenly in an adventurous mood, she realized she had never really gotten a tour of the palace and hadn't got a chance to explore it for herself.

As she got close to the middle, her eyes fell upon the familiar silhouette of the king playing golf with what she guessed were officials or politicians. She gasped and quickly looked around for a place to hide, she didn't want to interrupt the game and she certainly wasn't ready to greet politicians when there was a sure chance that she could make a fool of herself.

She turned her head looking around the area and jumped out of her skin when a small white ball rolled next to her feet. It was the golf ball; she looked up in terror just as the men started turning their heads to her direction looking for the ball most likely. She turned her face from side to side looking for a hole or corner or anything that could conceal her. Then suddenly she was pulled away and her back collided with the back of a golf cart, Mikan looked up and met red eyes filled with annoyance.

She looked to her side to see the ball six feet away from her. A half balding man with stiff shoulders came to grab it. He didn't seem to notice the two teenagers that were standing against the golf car.

She watched as he walked away and then sighed in relief, the brunette looked back at her savior to convey her gratitude but before she could, the boy had grabbed her braid and pulled it harshly towards him. Mikan yelped softly at the hurt and tried to push the boy's hands away and get away from his grasp but the boy evaded easily and managed to trap her by pressing his palm flatly to the cart at the side of her face.

Mikan blushed crimson at the close distance then mentally kicked herself for getting embarrassed so easily. The boy seemed to notice the redness on her cheeks and smirked as he pulled at the braid harder.

Mikan slapped his hand and grabbed her hair glaring at him. "Why are you always pulling my hair?" She hissed.

"Why are you always braiding it?" He replied flatly.

Mikan ignored the question and tried to move away but froze when the boy leaned close. Mikan's breath caught at the proximity; if she looked closer she could count the boy's thick eye lashes.

He whispered in her ear, she could feel his lips as they moved centimeters from the side of her face, "You're blushing, ichigo-kara."

She blushed harder, this time from fury, she spluttered at him as her voice broke from anger, "You-you perverted prince!"

The conceited prince smirked softly and moved back as he sneered, "It's not my fault if your dress is low cut."

Mikan huffed in anger as she put an arm across her chest and glowered at him, "I'm going to sue you for this."

The boy's lips twitched slightly as he responded, "I'm your fiancé, I'll be seeing more than your undergarments soon."

Mikan's eyes widened as the realization came to her and she started stammering for a response, "Y-you can't!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, "Why not? We'll be husband and wife. It won't be illegal, and we're of age."

Mikan almost choked in relief as he said this. She smirked at him, "Too bad, I'm not."

The boy narrowed his eyes at this, "You're in the same class as me, what, are you seventeen?"

Mikan grinned smugly and with a haughty air replied, "I'm sixteen, I skipped a grade."

"Kindergarten doesn't count." He retorted.

"Well, whatever, I'm not of age. Ha!" She said giddily.

The boy jeered at this, "Ha? You make it sound like I actually care. What would I do with a little girl's body?"

Mikan panted with rage at him, how dare he? The boy noticed the girl's ignited eyes and thinking better of it decided to take his chance to flee.

He ran away unseen in the shadows and the girl chased after him with red cheeks and angry eyes as she cried for him to stop.

The men on the field were too immersed in their talk about politics and economics to notice the teenagers banter and run away towards the palace walls, but the King watched from the corner of his eye as his son teased the small girl who would soon be his daughter-in-law feeling a sense of nostalgia and sadness wash over him as he gazed at the two.

Mikan chased the infuriating boy to the palace, she didn't know what sector of the castle it was, she guessed it to be the east side but she was never good at geography and maps so she simply concentrated on catching the boy in front of her instead of the crystal structures and velvet curtains.

"Stop running!" She huffed at him.

The boy was quick; Mikan had always considered her self a fast runner but the boy's speed was matchless. The boy turned the corner and Mikan followed suit until her face bumped against a strong chest and she almost fell to the floor if not for the hands that grabbed her shoulders and steadied her.

The small girl looked up to see sparkling blue eyes stare in shock at her. The boy dropped his arms and a light blush touched his cheeks as he averted his gaze from her quickly and apologized.

Mikan lost in the boy's blue eyes blinked and snapped to attention as she realized that it was her fault for bumping into the boy not his for simply standing in her way.

"Oh no, no I'm sorry." Mikan bowed at the prince-like boy feeling a bit star struck. She recognized the boy from school; he was Ruka Nogi, son of the senator, the original prince of Gakuen Alice, before the actual one showed up and claimed the position.

She had never spoken to the boy before but he was a known entity, having his own fan base at the school who dedicated their time to accompany the angelic boy in between classes and hold events in his honor. He was a nice guy, usually laughing at the fan girls' odd rituals and worship of him; Mikan had wanted to befriend him a long time ago but she was afraid of the wrath of the female population that devoted their all to him.

Ruka Nogi laughed lightly, "It's quiet alright, I was actually looking for Natsume." He turned his head to look at the prince who was watching the two with a detached look on his face.

Mikan was surprised by the way he addressed the crown prince so informally but decided not to ask about it, "Oh, sorry," She realized then that he must not know who she was as she didn't hold the popularity he did in school. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Mikan Sakura." She bowed.

The blue eyed boy smiled softly and spoke, "Oh I know who you are."

Mikan pressed her lips together, of course, she had been on the news the past week, "Ah yes, the TV." She clarified for her self rather than for his sake.

Ruka shook his head lightly and grinned charmingly, "No, from school. I go to Gakuen Alice too."

Mikan's eyes widened and she tried not to show the shock in her features, she didn't think he knew about her, she was about to tell him that she knew of him but before she could explain that, the quiet boy who had been watching the exchange from the sidelines spoke up, "Ruka, I didn't know you were coming."

Ruka beamed towards the dark boy, "Surprise."

Natsume rolled his eyes and turned his back as he gestured the light haired boy to follow him. Ruka looked back at Mikan and smiled softly, "It was nice to meet you, your highness."

But before Mikan had a chance to reply a maid with long blue hair ran up to the trio and stopped in front of Mikan. She took deep breaths as she bowed indicating that she had been running for a long time now.

"Mikan-sama, your tutor, Harada-san is looking for you," She says bowing in front of the girl.

Mikan's eyes widened, she hadn't had lunch yet and there was no way she was going through a round of poised walking and refined tea sipping on an empty stomach. She quickly turned to the maid and said hurriedly, "Tell her I can't come today." A day off after the stressful week seemed appropriate to her at the moment.

The maid looked confused and a bit torn, it was clear that Misaki held some sort of power over the maids, "What reason should I give to Harada-san?"

Mikan opened her mouth to make something up but the maid spoke again, "She will be coming to check up on you and promptly take you back to your lesson if she deems your activity less important than her training."

Translation: Don't spill some bull because she will be able to see through it and drag you back to torturous tutoring.

Mikan grimaced as she scrambled for an excuse, she looked to the side and registered that the two boys were still standing in the small hallway staring at her. The prince looked annoyed while the boy, Ruka looked at her with curiosity.

An idea sprang to her and she smiled brightly at the maid as she spoke, "I'll be joining my fiancé for today." She walked towards the dark boy who scowled at her, she mouthed for him to keep his mouth shut and was impressed when he obliged with a dark look at her. She stood next to him with her hands clasped smiling at the maid.

The maid looked confused but not suspicious Mikan noted with relief, "Alright, what should I tell the tutor you'll be doing?"

Mikan bit her lip and answered, "I will be…" Mikan elbowed the crown prince in the ribs as she dragged on her sentence.

He gave an irritated sigh as he finished her sentence, "playing polo with Ruka and me."

Mikan turned and grinned cheerfully at the maid, "Yes, I will be playing polo for today."

"What's Polo?" Mikan asked as soon as the maid had walked off to report to her tutor.

Ruka burst out laughing as she said this while Natsume looked at her in ill concealed annoyance and exasperation.

"Why don't you go and hide somewhere, I already gave you an alibi. Go annoy someone else now." He walked out of the castle and started moving towards the stable.

Mikan's face brightened up as she recognized the long faces and muscled bodies of horses poking out. She responded to Natsume with considerably less annoyance from before, "I'm bored, and besides we're going to get married, you should spend more time with me."

Natsume looked at her with vexation, "And why would I do that when you're already going to be my wife in two days and I'll have to spend every waking moment with you."

Mikan started skipping towards the stable and she responded from afar, "You make that sound like a bad thing."

She didn't hear his response but she heard Ruka chuckle and comment to Natsume, "You guys are already starting to sound like a couple."

She walked in and gasped, there were around thirty horses in the stable. Her eyes widened and she walked through the tiny space looking at the beautiful animals like they were creatures out of a story book.

She heard a gruff voice behind her mutter, "please tell me she's seen a horse before."

Ruka laughed softly and walked up to Mikan who looked to be lost in some fantasy of hers, "Do you know how to ride?"

The girl blinked and almost stumbled when she saw that it was gentle blue eyes looking at her and not the blazing red ones filled with annoyance that she was used to. She smiled a little, "Horseback? Yes, my father taught me," she couldn't help but smile at the few beautiful memories her father left her with.

"Really?" Ruka seemed impressed with this, "most people don't know how to ride horseback nowadays."

Mikan grinned at him, "Horses are gentle, and they're the sweetest companions, not just riding animals."

Ruka smiled blindingly at this and nodded enthusiastically, "I think so too, do you like horses a lot?"

Mikan nodded, "Yes, I used to have one. But, my mother sold it when I grew up." She didn't add that the horse was sold because they didn't have money to pay the rent for their single bedroom apartment at the time.

The blonde haired boy seemed to understand this because he didn't ask her about it and instead changed the subject, "well that's good, because you'll need to know how to horse ride to play polo."

"What is polo?" She asked hoping for an answer this time and not an annoyed remark.

To her surprise it was Natsume who replied, he was standing a few feet away feeding a carrot to a beautiful black horse, "It's an American sport. You ride horses and play field hockey but you use a long mallet instead of the normal sized hockey stick."

Mikan walked towards him, "Oh she's so beautiful. Can I ride her?" She cooed at the black beauty, entranced by the horse's long mane and beautiful eyes.

Natsume stepped in front almost protectively, "First of all, it's a he and second, no." He finished flatly.

Mikan glowered, "Why not?"

"Because he's my riding animal," The boy's nose rose up and his stance resembled a haughty noble as he finished his sentence, "besides, he doesn't like others, he broke Ruka's arm before when he tried to ride him. Only I can ride him."

Mikan turned away from the annoying arrogant boy and towards the horse, she reached out her hand to him, Natsume stepped in and regarded her with irritation, "Are you deaf, didn't you hear a word I said?"

Mikan ignored him and continued to reach out, she touched him between the eyes and the horse's stance stiffened up as Mikan flattened her palm against the animal's face.

Then all at once the horse relaxed and leaned it to the girl's touch and closed his eyes, Mikan smiled and looked at Natsume who was looking at the horse in pure shock, his reaction put a grin on Mikan's face as she started petting the animal.

Ruka walked up next to Natsume with an identical expression of disbelief on his face and both boys turned to look at the brown eyed girl with wide eyes.

She looked at them with a look of pride and opened the gate to release the beautiful black horse. Her saddle was already ready so all she needed to do was buckle up; Natsume seemed to come to his senses as she snapped the clasp in place.

"Wait, I never you gave you permission to ride him." He looked at her with anger but it was marred with shock and a bit of wonder that she had a moment to glean over before his eyes became expressionless.

Mikan smirked at him, "I don't need your permission, I need the horse's, and since he's okay with it, I don't see what's wrong." And then she was off like a bullet as the horse ran out of the stable with impressive speed and agility.

Ruka whistled as the horse disappeared from view along with the blazing girl.

"You know if you can't make it to the altar, I'll gladly take your place." He punched the broody boy's arm playfully.

Natsume looked at him with revulsion, "Wait till your fiancé hears about this."

Ruka grinned handsomely, "Hotaru? Nah, she doesn't get jealous, she already knows she owns all of me," Ruka's eyes seemed to glaze over at the mention of his fiancé and that made the other boy snort in disgust at his lovesick face.

"Married life isn't all too bad you know," Ruka told him.

Natsume grimaced, "You don't get to say that when you're only engaged."

"I know, but I'm prepared for it, I'm even happy." He said smiling.

Natsume looked away, "That's because you actually found someone you love. Imagine marrying a stranger." Then added with annoyance, "or specifically an idiotic stranger."

Ruka looked sad for a moment, "Natsume, you know you could've refused too, they wouldn't have forced this upon you unless you relented."

Natsume looked back as him and his expression was equally divided between a sad longing and an adoring respect, "It's the first time my father actually asked something of me. I wasn't going to say no to his only request."

Ruka was about to say something but he was cut off as the little girl with sparkling wide eyes returned on the black horse's back.

"You know, I had thought this was a two player game." She said with wild hair and cheeks tainted a deep red from riding across fields. She looked quiet lovely in her wild stance and Ruka wasn't the only one to notice it.

Natsume seemed to be lost as he stared at the princess to be with her dark untamed hair and bright eyes filled with happiness, he almost seemed infatuated.

Ruka observed the look and almost felt embarrassed at the plain emotion that his best friend seemed to display bluntly, he looked back at the girl to see if she noticed but she was busy cooing at the horse. The boy and girl were equally lost. Ruka thought idly what their future held if there was this much idiocy in one couple.

He grinned at the thought and lightly slapped his best friend on the back to make him come to his senses. Natsume flinched and blinked, for a minute he looked lost and then his face went expressionless but Ruka didn't miss the way he looked at the warm eyed girl on the horse from the corner of his eye, the boy was more vulnerable to her charms than he would ever let himself believe.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ruka asked with glee after a moment.

**000000000000000**

"Wait! Let me hit it!" Mikan ran towards the ball on the back of the black horse. But before she got there, a white horse had already hit the ball towards the goal. She seethed and met eyes with blue ones who smiled apologetically. She softened but ran after the ball again.

And again before she got there, this time a black and brown horse had already blocked her and hit the ball far away from her. She grunted in annoyance and met a smirk which only ignited her anger and had her bolting towards the ball again.

She saw Ruka on the white horse from the corner of her eye. She heard horse hooves from her left and knew that they were both on her tail. She rode faster and got to the ball before any of the others. She had no time to aim and as she saw Natsume's mallet trying to hit the ball, her reflex kicked in and she stroke the ball. To the opposite side of the goal.

She heard Natsume snicker and roll out a, "nice hit, stupid." But she kept her gaze on the ball. It hit the side brick wall on the opposite side and flew toward the metal cylinder to the side, soared against the stable then by the hard shovel and landed squarely in the goal.

Mikan roared in happiness as she made the goal and heard Ruka choke with laughter. She looked at him and beamed then towards Natsume who had his normal annoyed and sulky face but his lips were twitching like he couldn't keep from smiling.

She grinned at him and ran towards the goal, ready to make another one.

"I can't believe you won. No one can beat Natsume in this game; you must have played polo before, who really taught you, Mikan?" Ruka's eyes were shining with amazement.

Mikan too, was over the moon especially after she made the winning goal and Natsume almost fell off his horse, she smiled brightly at Ruka, happy he was using her first name and not the stiff, 'your highness.'

Natsume intervened, "Don't be too impressed Ruka, it was beginner's luck, she's too much of an idiot to actually play with strategy." He scoffed at Mikan.

Mikan was too happy to be mad at the snide remark, "Yeah, but I still beat you." She skipped towards the horse stable holding on to the beautiful horse by the rein; she walked him into the stable and opened the door to the area that the black horse habituated in. She petted his mane and took the equipment and gear off him, then started grooming him. As she worked she felt eyes on her and looked behind to see the crown prince staring at her.

She gave him a questioning look and he walked up towards her and put his hand over hers on the brush. Her heart stuttered and she looked behind at him with wide eyes. Their bodies were touching; he had pressed his body to her back and leaned over her to cover his hand on hers on the comb. He started grooming the horse in a circular motion and her arm followed being confined between his hand and the comb.

He muttered lowly near her ear, "He doesn't like it when you comb him like that, make circular long strokes, it's what he's used to."

Mikan nodded limply and bit her lip as she followed his instructions. He instructed her through until she got it right, all the while thanking whatever power it was that kept her arm from shaking.

"Okay, you got it." He let go and Mikan felt the cold hit her back. She finished grooming the horse and put it away by the side. She looked back at him and noticed that he was still staring at her with an intense gaze. Mikan's heart pummeled and skipped a hundred beats, she felt so confused, she had never had such odd and strong feelings; she didn't understand what was happening to her.

She felt the crown prince take a step towards her and her body froze on the spot; suddenly she couldn't look away from his eyes. His eyes held hers for a long moment as he took another step but then the moment was abruptly broken as Ruka walked up and stiffened staring at the two of them with wide eyes, he cleared his throat and Mikan blinked and looked at him as he loosened his collar nervously.

She looked away and for some reason blood rose to her face and her heartbeat accelerated. She gave a shaky breath and closed the horse stall. She excused herself from the two boys and swiftly walked away towards the palace, she put her hands to the side of her face where her cheeks were burning for odd reasons with feelings she didn't recognize.

She walked inside lost in thought, she was having a hard time controlling herself from jumping up and down like a fool. She was starting to think maybe the palace was driving her insane. She looked up and stopped swiftly, her feet had carried her to the tutoring room unconsciously; she turned around quickly and looked for a place to hide in case her teachers were still here. She saw a blur of red hair and ran towards a random door to hide from impending doom. The door was locked, she tried another but they were all locked, she felt steps near her and tried the last door praying it would open. No such luck, it was locked.

The footsteps came closer and Mikan's breath caught, her heart started beating rapidly, she looked around for a place to hide, moving her head swiftly from side to side. She was wondering if all princess's had to run away as much as her in their own castle. First from the king and random politicians and now from her own tutors, at least life was an adventure here. The hallway was empty except for one small statue. She had seen a lot of pictures of the statue in her history textbook; it was the head of the first king of Japan made out of white marble laid on a stone table. Its features were stiff and expressionless, of course, the first politician would have to be cold and unfeeling, how else would his followers do the same?

She had little time to idle on why such an important and famous statue was in a lone hallway but she quickly ran behind it to hide, in her haste she slipped on the hem of her dress and almost fell on the table, she stopped the impact with her hands and just about died in horror when her left hand slipped the marble head from its neck. She heard a noise behind her and turned stiffly expecting guards or security alarms to attack her and possibly throw her out of the palace.

But what happened next was probably the most absurd and surprising thing she was going to find in this castle of mysteries. The white wall started shifting and the paintings on it moved and opened a narrow path for her that led to who knows where. She just about broke the marble in shock as she realized she had just discovered a secret passage.

But she had barely any time to dwell or gaze in amazement at the odd finding she came across for the footsteps from before were even closer now. She ran through the narrow path, her footsteps seeming to ignite some sensor which lightened up fire on the torches that were aligned on each side of the hallway. She looked behind in time to see the entryway shift and turn back into to the wall again. There was no going back now, she swallowed thickly and walked down the long pathway, it seemed to go on for miles, when she reached the end, she saw that it led to a door and having no where else to go, she twisted the doorknob and stepped inside the random room.

She breathed shallowly as she walked inside the unfamiliar room. It was different than all the other rooms in the palace, it had no windows which was probably the reason it was so dark even if there was a light bulb that was turned on in the middle of the ceiling. It was strange, every room, even the bathroom, had chandeliers so it was a mystery why this one didn't. The walls were naked of any paintings or sceneries; it held no sofas or chairs, there were only boxes. Towards the end, by the corner, she noticed what seemed to be a safe, hidden behind mountains of boxes. Curiosity got the better of her and she walked up to the odd safe vault in the wall, it was humongous, it seemed to be the size of safes in banks that held millions. She wondered if this was where the royal family kept their money and treasures, she grimaced at that, it wasn't the safest place; after all she had entered so easily. Although that was also by mistake…

Then a thought suddenly struck Mikan, was she trespassing? Would this be counted as breaking in? She had, after all come through a pretty shady entrance. Her growing fearful thoughts were disrupted as a voice from behind spoke up, "What are you doing here?"

She turned around swiftly, her insides numb with terror. For a moment she couldn't see anyone, she looked straight ahead and found no one, did she imagine the voice?

"Oi, down here." She looked down to see the adorable younger prince staring up at her with annoyed red eyes. It vexed her when Natsume looked at her like that but she found the expression endearing in the little boy.

She smiled at him, "Oh, I got lost."

He pursed his lips, making his chubby cheeks puff out, he regarded her as something that got stuck to the bottom of his designer shoes, he spoke to her in a gruff voice, "You're not supposed to be here."

She figured, but curiosity still got the better of her, "What is this place?"

The little boy raised his nose up in the air that reminded her starkly of another boy with the same red eyes, "It's a secret room, you can only get here through a secret entrance, no one's supposed to be here, you'll get into a lot of trouble from momma and papa," he said looking at her with the same superior look.

Mikan narrowed her eyes at him, "Then what are you doing here?"

He seemed befuddled for a moment before he concealed it, but it was done poorly, he would need practice if he wanted to be as smooth as his older brother, he looked away as he answered, "I'm the prince."

Mikan smiled, "Well I'm the princess to be," she said.

"That doesn't count." He said but she could see that he didn't believe it; his royal air had been deflated.

"I won't tell if you won't." She decided to bargain, she didn't want to hurt his royal highness's pride. Goodness knows that can never end well.

Youichi thought about it for a moment and then spoke up, "Okay," and she felt as though she had signed a contract with a politician not bargained with a boy half her age.

But Mikan grinned at him and walked to the corner and sat down against the wall, she gestured for him to sit beside her; the small boy hesitated for a moment and then deciding that the girl with eyes too big and hair too long was harmless, he came to sit beside the pretty brunette.

They were quiet for a moment as Mikan observed their surroundings. The girl was thinking about how to ask the small boy how he got here but she didn't know how best to ask without looking suspicious. To her surprise it was the little boy who spoke up first, "I'm actually hiding from my maids, they're trying to give me an afternoon nap," he confessed to her. His face was so grave that Mikan couldn't help but laugh, she concealed her laughter with coughs, the boy didn't seem to notice though for he was too busy wallowing in guilt.

Mikan decided to enlighten him, "Well I'm hiding from my tutors, don't worry about it, you just need a break sometimes," She reassured him.

He looked at her with the same annoyed face, "Yeah but you're not a prince like I am; I have to follow with the king's demands." He tried to put on a haughty air but he was having a hard time.

Mikan pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, the boy was too adorable for his own good, "Does royalty mean you can't have fun?"

The boy didn't look at her as he answered, "Yeah, responsibility trumps everything, that's what Oni-chan told me. He's really amazing; my brother mastered what I'm studying when he was four years old. He's good at everything." The small prince was practically bursting with pride as he talked about his brother.

Mikan nodded understandingly at him, "Yeah, I heard he's a prodigy."

"But I can't compare to him because of that. I think he's disappointed in me." He replied sadly.

Mikan regarded the boy with sympathy, "You know he may be smart and right about responsibility being important but I don't think that you shouldn't have fun." She told him.

Youichi shook his head, "No, he's right, he always is. If I want to be better than I have to listen to him. He's better than me."

"I don't think he's better than you." Mikan told him softly.

Youichi looked at her with his big red eyes and Mikan felt her heart squeeze, "You don't?"

Mikan shook her head, "I think you're both good at different things, you're different people after all."

Youichi didn't believe her, "You say that but I can never beat him at anything, no one can."

Mikan smirked at him, "I beat him in polo," she said with prideful glee.

Youichi's eyes widened and he didn't even try to hide the amazement in them, "You did? No one ever beats him in that." His tone was filled with surprise and a grudging sort of wonder.

Mikan grinned happily, "See? He's not good at _everything_."

When Youichi didn't answer she continued to press, "You may not have discovered what you're better at than him but I know you will. I think you're pretty awesome, your highness."

Youichi's cheeks reddened at this and he whispered softly, "Youichi," he said.

At Mikan's look of confusion, he clarified, "my name. You can call me that."

The warm eyed girl smiled prettily at this and the little boy had to look away or his heart would beat out of his chest.

He cleared his throat, "actually, I can't sleep easily, and I always have to pretend to be asleep so my maids leave me alone."

"Are you sleepy right now?" She asked.

Youichi rubbed his forehead with his small chubby hand, "No, but I'm really tired,"

Mikan didn't need an invitation as she pushed the boy's head to her lap. He fell limply and by the stance of his stiff shoulders Mikan could tell he was surprised.

Mikan patted his shoulder, "You can sleep like this; just relax."

He looked like he wanted to say something but probably thought better of it. She watched as the boy closed his eyes and evened his breathing, his shoulders relaxed and after a moment she was sure he was asleep but then he opened his big eyes and looked at her despondently, turning his head so that the back of it was on her knees and he was staring up at her, "It didn't work."

Mikan tapped her chin for a moment, "hmm, do you want me to sing you a lullaby?"

Youichi seemed to flinch, "No don't, I've had some bad experiences with lullabies,"

"Your mom?" She asked.

The boy shook his head dejectedly, "No, momma never sang to me, the maids tried to but maybe it's because of them that I can't fall asleep now."

Mikan smiled and gently shifted his bangs away from his eyes, the boy didn't tell her to stop and she took that as a good sign, "Well, I'm really good, my dad taught me this one; he used to sing it to me every night."

The little boy simply closed his big eyes, his facial features expectant; Mikan smiled a little and then closed her eyes and started singing.

_Swift away, O swift away, little one_

She felt a hand squeeze her arm and looked down, the young prince looked up to her with have lidded eyes, as he whispered softly, "Before, when you saved me, thank you."

She smiled endearingly at him, who says royalty doesn't thank? She had already found something better about this younger prince than the one who was her husband to be. She nodded at the little boy and he closed his eyes, relaxing as she started singing again.

_Swift away, O swift away, little one, Swift away_

_Away to the land of dreams_

_Swift away O swift away to the land where reality and dreams mean the same_

_Swift away as I sing stories of long ago, heroes of far away_

_Dream of a castle far, far away, where knights reside and maids dance and work_

_A king on a throne, a queen by his side, together they rule,_

_A prince on a horse, hair as dark as night, eyes as red as blood,_

_Together they rule, together they live, far, far away,_

_Waiting and dreaming for that destined day when you will arise and join them my child,_

_Swift away, Swift away, far, far away,_

_Dream today, for tomorrow you'll rule,_

_In a castle not too far away by a prince whose heart is filled with sorrow,_

_You'll love and be loved, so sleep, my angel, sleep_

_And dream, dream of chariots and knights, that'll be yours one day,_

_Swift away, swift away, for one day you'll rise to fix mistakes of a past you never knew,_

_Dream, my child, dream and be strong,_

_One day you'll rule over us, by the side of a prince whose only so by name,_

_So dream, and let dreams sweep you away, Swift away my child,_

_Swift away to your dreams, far, far away,_

_Swift away my love, my child, my princess, swift away._

Mikan looked at the little boy's head on her lap as the song ended, she felt his chest rise and fall evenly, his face held all the innocence and sweetness of a child. She felt her heart squeeze and she brushed away the boy's bangs from his forehead. He really was an adorable kid, she had a feeling he would be breaking a lot of hearts when he grew up.

Having nothing else to do and being unable to move without disturbing the angelic child on her lap, Mikan decided she should take an afternoon nap as well, so she rested her head back against the wall and fell into a deep slumber, the last thought being a fleeting one, her lullaby seemed to be linked a bit strongly to her reality, why had her dad sang something like that? It was almost like he hadn't just handed her royalty at the brink of his death but had planned it with her birth.

**000000000000000**

A few hours before the girl and the little boy found their way inside the so called secret room through the mysterious passageway a man with hair as light as the little boy had come in and sat against the door with his eyes glazed over, he had sat with his hair in fists and his jaw clenched.

His phone kept ringing; a single look at it conveyed that it was the senator who had come along with his son to meet him, the king.

He ignored each call, didn't listen to any of the voice mails and didn't even spare a look at the growing number of text messages. He didn't want to hear from anyone, he didn't want to see anyone; he simply wanted to rot in his guilt. The only person who could comfort him most likely hated him. The only person who could take away the pain was dead. 

Some leader he was, if his people could see him now, they would throw him out of the palace. Then again he was a pretense, he wasn't even royalty, he was practically a false king, sitting on a throne and playing a part. Except this play was life, and he would play his role until he could no longer draw breath.

Secrets were heavy; they weighed him down, some days he felt so grave he couldn't get out of bed. On those days he came to this room. To remind himself of why he does what he does. To keep going. To keep up the pretense.

With a shallow breath he stood up, a black and white picture crumpled in one hand, the other clutching his phone. In one swift movement he answered the call before he could talk himself out of it and fall deeper into despair.

He put the phone next to his ear and answered, "Yes, senator?"

The voice on the other side was warm and kind; he was one of the few politicians who kept their personality and kindness despite the harsh conditions in politics.

"_**My son and I were actually wondering if we could join you for dinner, I would like to further discuss the Silent Maintenance Policy with you." **_

He cooled his voice and answered in an even voice, "Of course, I look forward to it. I'll see you tonight then."

He hung up. Quick and precise, that was how he would deal with them, he couldn't let on that he was anything but busy, it would give them ideas, he was king after all, keeping on masks and pretenses were his forte.

Or at least it was supposed to be.

He took a deep breath and all expressions melted from his face, a mask of cool indifference shifting into place. Fisting his hand and crushing the picture, he walked up to the safe vault in the wall and opened it. He threw the picture inside and closed the vault not giving it a second look; he exited the room with stiff shoulders and an arched back, the posture of a king taking its place.

In the dark windowless room that held mountains of boxes and a silver vault that no one but one man knew the code for, lay a small boy resting his head on the lap of a beautiful girl with porcelain skin and dark locks. She rested her head against the wall and slept soundly, her posture graceful, her stance elegant. She slept not knowing she was special, that she was destined for greatness, that she was the only true royal left in the castle.

And in the silver vault not far from where the two slept were pictures, thousands of them, with random objects mixed in, a scarf, a hair pain, a baseball cap, a pair of thick rimmed glasses and a million other treasures that were more precious to the king and his queen than any gold or silver or assets they could ever gain.

Among the thousands of pictures lay a crumpled black and white one. Its edges were ripped and it looked to be held and crumpled many times over and over again but it was a picture of happiness. It was an old picture, taken almost two decades ago. If one was to look at the picture, they wouldn't be able to help but smile as four beautiful and equal ethereal faces smiled back beautifully. A boy about sixteen with hair as light as straw and eyes the color of sky stood holding a woman with dark locks and porcelain skin who held hands with a boy who stood next to her smiling with shining brown hair and eyes as green as summer leaves. Next to him was a beautiful girl with hair as dark as night and eyes as red as blood. All four beaming at the camera.

**000000000000000**

**A/N: Goodness these chapters are getting longer. Anyway I think people are still confused, I did get my story line, or a big part of the plot from **_Goong_**, which is also **_Princess Hours_**, so I'm really sorry if you were confused about that, I should've mentioned that in the disclaimer. But I hope you like the chappie, the next one is on its way, do tell me if you have any suggestions or if my writing sucks too bad, I promise to listen to the best of my abilities and improve as much as I can! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Goong (Princess Hours).**

**Sorry for the long wait, here's a long chapter to make up for it. **

_**Oh and this is one is for you Sam, do forgive me for not telling you about this story…Anyway, Onwards: **_

**~;~**

"Wake up."

The girl stirred and moaned but didn't budge to the urgent voice.

"Oi, I said wake up." The boy had only enough patience and kindness to ask nicely once, he wouldn't have even bothered with someone else but it was Mikan and he couldn't help but gain a soft spot for the fanatical girl, he kicked her lightly in the stomach the next time he commanded her to awaken but when the girl still continued to sleep, he pulled her braided hair, hard.

"Ouch!" The girl cried sitting up suddenly and cradling her head. She looked accusingly at the little boy who looked blankly at her like she was just another mundane painting on the wall she was leaning against.

She grimaced at him, "What's with you royal princes pulling at my hair?!" She hissed at him.

The boy paid her no heed as he walked across the room and pushed a block in the brick wall on the opposite side of the room. The wall changed and the bricks shifted out of place as they moved aside to opposite sides of the wall revealing a wooden door in their midst. Mikan gaped at the wall and the little prince turned to look at her long enough to smirk at her reaction.

"You didn't think you could come out the same way you got in, did you?" He asked her in his signature haughty tone.

Mikan squeaked a little as she got up and walked across the room, "Why can't we use the same door?"

Youichi looked at her like she had a deformed head, "Didn't you notice the vault? The room holds treasure; if some idiot like you got in and broke that open they could escape with all the money."

Mikan looked back at the silver vault in confusion, "Well, why aren't there sensors or any alarms?" She asked.

The little boy actually face palmed at this. _What a cheeky brat_, Mikan thought, "Of course there is security and there will be alarms that go off but obviously even an idiot would run when that happens so we have to make sure they can't get out." He finished and then took an exaggeratedly long breath to which Mikan rolled her eyes at.

"Okay, Okay your smart highness, sorry for being such an idiot," she tells him.

Youichi sniffs arrogantly, "its fine, after all, it's a prince's job to help his people, even the idiotic ones."

Mikan's jaw drops, where did that sweet and innocent little boy go? The boy in front of her seemed like a mini devil in disguise.

But then the small prince looks back at her and she notices the tiny smile at the corners of his lips and his mirthful eyes and her heart softens, he was playing her.

"Well excuse me, your highness, if you don't mind do you think I could make it to dinner? I'm probably late as of now." She tells him tersely.

"Actually we still have half an hour till dinner, I know you're a commoner but it will do you good to get this amazing new invention called a wrist watch. It's not too expensive but if you ask nicely I could get it for you." He replies with his tongue in his cheek.

Wow, you show a little kindness and affection to the boy and he suddenly thinks he's the king.

Mikan decides to play along as the boy guides her out of the room and to another door, this one leading to the side hallway which was only a little way away from the dining room.

"Oh yeah and where would you get the money from?"

The boy looks at her with a wicked smirk for a moment, "The safe vault in the secret room."

Mikan bursts out laughing and the boy lets himself linger in the sound for a while, he finds the noise pleasant, it sounds like wind chimes in a spring afternoon.

**~;~**

"Oh my," the queen looks up as the last two guests of the night enter the dinning area.

Mikan bows and greets the royal figures as Youichi makes his way to sit next to his brother.

The queen looks at her younger son with a quizzical face and asks, "Where were the two of you?"

The young prince clenches his jaw and takes an exaggerated breath as he answers, "Mikan Nee-chan was putting me to sleep."

The king and queen both look up at their son as he answers this; even the boy next to him snaps his attention towards him.

Mikan hides a smile as she takes a seat across from the small royal figure; Youichi turns to glare at her as Natsume asks in a tone close to laughing, "Why was she putting you to sleep?"

Youichi doesn't answer and the king and queen turn their wide eyes and confused faces to Mikan who pretends to be engrossed in her supper. She hears a loud snicker from her fiancé directed mockingly at his brother and she looks at Youichi sympathetically but he seems too busy separating his green peas from the rest of his meal.

The queen looks at Mikan and back at Youichi in confusion but decides that since no one was willing to answer her, she could move on to the topic at hand.

She looks at Mikan and smiles gently, "Mikan, the wedding is in two days and you still haven't asked for invitations for friends and family or gone to get your gown fitted."

Mikan's spoon stops midway from her plate to her mouth. She looks up at the queen and clears her throat, "Yes, I'm sorry, I've been busy with the tutors, your highness."

The girl grimaces, she didn't think the wedding was this close; the week had practically flown by. Her nerves start to quiver, she hadn't even thought about it, she looks back at the queen, "I can go for the fitting whenever you like and I only need one other invitation other than the one for my mother."

The king looks up at her when she says this, "You only need one other? You can invite as many people as you like, you know that, right?"

Mikan shifts in her seat uncomfortably, "Yes, I know. Um, but I don't have anyone else to invite."

The king and queen both exchange looks before the beautiful queen turns her tender gaze back to the princess to be and reaches under the table to softly squeeze her hand reassuringly as she says, "That's quiet alright, and you can send the invitation yourself if you like. But, we actually didn't plan your bridesmaids or your maid of honor because we thought you would like your friends for the part."

Mikan gulps, she didn't have any girlfriends, the girls at school would barely look in her direction when they found out she was a scholarship student and especially when her star status was of a single star, she was practically deemed invisible. She only ever had one other friend but she couldn't ask her to come when she was half way across the world. Besides, Hotaru was too busy and she didn't want to tell her about the wedding, she knew it would make her mad and she wasn't sure she could share her reason for it. It wasn't that she didn't trust Hotaru, she just didn't know if telling her would be safe. She cleared her mind, right now was no time for her indecisiveness.

Mikan looks up miserably and turns her gaze to her fiancé who was watching with detached interest. When their eyes meet, Natsume raises an eyebrow questionably and Mikan looks away quickly, why had she looked at him?

She looks back at the queen next to her, the woman looks at her expectantly, how could she elude the queen that she has no friends without looking pathetic? She inhales for a moment and before she can stop herself, words tumbles out.

"Yes, I will take care of it." She says quickly.

When the Queen's expression brightens, Mikan feels unregretful about what she says for a moment. But the moment passes far too quickly as her mother-in-law to be decides to talk about the wedding for the rest of dinner.

The wedding will be the day after Natsume's coronation on his eighteenth birthday when he becomes the official crown prince of Japan. Mikan watches the dark haired boy sip his soup lazily and occasionally grab a piece of meat off of Youichi's plate to annoy him. Didn't he realize that the conversation was on _his_ coronation and _his_ wedding? He was barely paying attention.

Mikan bit her lip in annoyance; he could at least pretend to care. The wedding would take place in the palace back yard for it was going to be a warm and cozy day, Mikan would need to go tomorrow after the coronation with her friends to get her dress fitted and their bridesmaid dresses. In the afternoon there will be cake tasting, after that flower choosing and a million other things Mikan zoned out for.

She was too busy planning to kidnap random girls that could play the part of her bridesmaids.

When dinner was over, Mikan was the first to be out of her seat. She ran up to her room and shut the door, she was so screwed, how was she supposed to find bridesmaids within twenty four hours?

She sighed as she slumped in her bed, why couldn't her problems be normal, why did life always have to challenge her with such bizarre occurrences? Deeply sighing at her dramatic life she opened her laptop. She had two emails from her mother, one from Hotaru and one from an unknown email. She opens her mother's first.

_Mikan,_

_Are you at the palace right now? Call me when you get this email._

She frowns; the email was sent four days ago, she hadn't had time to check her mail since she got here, she realized with growing guilt that she had left her mother hanging and didn't bother to check up on her. Of course she had been busy, but that was no excuse for not at least calling her mother to check up on her.

She looked at the second one that her mother sent; it was from two days ago.

_Mikan, why haven't you called me yet? I've been waiting two days for your call. Are you not allowed to call from the palace?_

_Sweetie, this is urgent, I need you to read this carefully, whatever your dad wrote in that letter you read could be false. Your dad wouldn't want you in the palace; you're in danger, Mikan. You can't come home or undo your decision without causing an outbreak in the country so don't you try anything rash. You need to stay low and not attract attention, don't trust anyone at the palace and don't ever try to go near the queen mother. I need you to stay as far away from her as possible._

_I really wish you told me about all of this before you made this decision; you're so rash and foolish sometimes. I can't tell you much right now, there's no time. But Mikan whatever your father told you to do, don't even try it. There are dangers in the palace, guarded secrets and treacherous people. I need you to stay away from everyone in the palace, even the crown prince, I don't know how much he knows, but don't trust him._

_I wish I could say more but I'm out of time. I can't come to the wedding Mikan, I won't be seeing you. I can't come anywhere near the palace and I'll be away for a while. Don't try to look for me; you'll be putting yourself in even more danger by doing so. I really can't stay, there are people after me. Don't try to contact me and delete this email as soon as you get it. I can't say more, _

_I love you,_

_Mom._

Mikan takes a shaky breath and mechanically deletes the email. Her hands shake and sweat, she wipes them on her dress and holds hard onto the fabric while taking deep breaths to calm her self. She had been too lax; she had forgotten why she had come here in the first place, she almost wanted to chortle herself for her idiocy. What had she been doing while her mother was trying to reach her? Learning Latin and sipping tea? Playing Polo and getting lost in passageways? Talking about wedding dresses and bridesmaids?

Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes when she thought about her mother running away and being pursued. Her thoughts drifted to the way her mother looked while addressing the men that came with the engagement from the royal palace. Her tone was cold, her eyes hard. What had made her like that? Just what was everyone hiding from her? And why on earth did they communicate this secret through letters of all things? Didn't they know how terrifying it was for her, how scared she is right now?

She takes another deep breath to clear her mind and wipes her eyes, she couldn't cry, not here. Not where she couldn't trust anyone with her defenselessness. Suddenly she felt as though the walls were closing in on her, she couldn't breathe in this place where no one was on her side. It was stifling. She runs to the glass door and throws it open, running to the open balcony. She gasps out and gulps in the fresh air as her mind starts clearing. She looks up at the night sky and feels pressure behind her eyes as she catches site of the North Star.

_Show me the way, daddy. You said you always would. _

Mikan felt moisture on her cheeks and closed her eyes for a moment. She tried to think through all the fog that was thickening around her conscience. She needed a plan. First she would need to confirm her mother was safe, only then could she deal with everything else. Yeah, she needed a way to contact her.

But how? Phone calls wouldn't work and email definitely wasn't an option. She tried to think through her predicament as she clutched the white railing of the balcony until her knuckles turned white and as usually is the case; her thought process was interrupted by an exceedingly annoying voice.

"Oi."

She ignored it. Maybe if she pretended to not hear, the thing would go away.

"I know you heard me."

The annoyed girl snaps angrily at the boy not looking away from the night sky, "Go away."

When she didn't hear an answer and felt the tell tale stillness of being alone she looked towards the balcony and almost jumped out of her skin.

The crown prince was sitting on her balcony railing with one leg dangling down the side of the balcony and the other folded up beside him.

Mikan backs away to put a few feet between herself and the annoying, imposing boy.

"W-what is it?" she asks backing against the fence.

The boy rolls his eyes at her and looks towards the starry night. He asks in a whisper so soft, she would've mistaken it for the gust of wind that blew at that very moment.

"Why are you crying?"

The wind blows hard making the girl's long hair rage and almost come loose from their clasp. Her vision momentarily darkens as strands of her hair wisp in front of her eyes. She pushes them back hastily and catches the vulnerability in the hard headed and cold boy before it disappears.

His hair flays by the pressure of the wind as he stares at the night sky with a look of detachment but something in his expression makes him look younger, more vulnerable.

Mikan looks away as the moment passes, lost in time. She answers hastily, "No reason. Why are you on my balcony?"

He looks at her then, ignoring her question and says, "You looked sad." It's not a question but a statement.

"I was thinking of something sad." She answers in return.

"Your father?" He asks in the same soft voice.

Mikan blanches, "What?"

Natsume doesn't look at her, "I heard about him. From the King."

Mikan narrows her eyes and hisses, "What do you know about him?"

At the sudden change in her tone, the prince turns to her in confusion, "That he…passed away a few weeks ago." He says in a constricted tone.

Mikan watches his shoulders tense; she didn't blame him for it is an awkward spot to be in when talking about death of a loved one. The thought makes her tone soften, "Yeah, but it doesn't matter. He left when I was really young."

Her fiancé looks at her from the corner of his eye and with a sigh jumps back to his own balcony. Mikan looks up as he lands in his terrace.

He turns to her, "Don't say that. I know it matters, it never stops mattering. You can cry, it doesn't help but it makes you feel better."

Mikan gazes after him as he walks back into his own room. She shakes her head and walks back into her room suddenly cold from the wind. She leaves the glass door a little open, even if the night was chilly she wanted fresh air to enter her room, it was ironic that she felt more suffocated in this large and open palace then she did in her tiny living room with only one sofa.

Her fiancé was as easy to understand as this secret she was trying to decipher. He could be so sweet sometimes and so cold at other times. She had thought he had as much empathy as a brick but she was proven wrong. She didn't know what to make of it, his words and the effect they had on her were far too confusing to her.

The boy had completely disrupted her thought processes so Mikan goes back to her laptop to re-read her mother's email and catch some sort of clues from it. She realizes belatedly that she deleted the email. Mikan hangs her head and sighs audibly, she looks back at her inbox and opens the email from her best friend, it's been a while since they've talked and though she was in no mood for conversation, she could use something lighthearted.

_Baka. _

_I can't believe you. I'm coming to the palace tomorrow. Prepare crab cakes._

_Hotaru._

Mikan blinks and re-reads the email a few times to make sense of it. How was Hotaru coming to the palace? How did she know Mikan was at the palace? But more importantly, how could she come from France when it was the middle of the semester at school? She read it again, trying to find some clue as to what was going on in Hotaru's mind. Maybe crab cakes were the clue. Maybe they were code for something. Or maybe she was over thinking this.

With a frustrated sigh she closes the email and clicks the last one hoping it's clearer than the last two, she felt like she was going in circles trying to solve them.

She had suspected this email to be a spam, an advertisement or something along the lines. The email was from an unknown user, she didn't recognize the address. There was a one line sentence above a picture that made shivers run down Mikan's spine.

_Enjoying your stay at the palace, Mikan Sakura?_

She looks down at the picture and feels her limbs freeze all over. The picture was colored; it featured a young girl at the prime of her teenage years with eyes as warm as sunlight and skin as pale as snow. Her hair was a mass of shining brown colors. Mikan would recognize the girl anywhere, if she looked in the mirror she would be able to see the girl's identical features staring back. She was the carbon copy of her mother after all. Her mom was holding hands with a boy with very familiar green eyes. It was the king.

Mikan looked at the email address of the sender. She was thoroughly confused albeit very scared. She felt as though someone was watching her every move, like they knew what she wanted to know and were teasing her with the information.

**MarkOfDeath01011997**

She frowned, who was this person? The number combination seemed familiar to her; she looked at it closely-

"Mikan-sama?"

Mikan flinches and inhales sharply. She looks back to see familiar bubble gum pink hair and shining eyes, it was her personal maid who Mikan still hadn't got the chance to know the name of.

Mikan quickly closes her laptop before the girl could see the picture.

"Are you alright?" The girl asks gently.

Why was everyone asking her that?! No she wasn't alright, her mother is being chased to goodness knows where, her father died just two weeks ago, she's going to marry a complete stranger in two days and now someone was sending her confusing and scary emails about a secret she wasn't so sure she wanted to know anymore.

But she couldn't say all that, and especially not to this girl who was looking at her with such genuine concern shining in her eyes.

Mikan swallowed the lump in her throat and fisted her hand, she smiled at the cute girl; she realized subconsciously with dismay that she was getting good at faking her smiles, "Yes, I'm fine. Is there something that you need?"

The girl didn't look entirely convinced but she answered the question in her usual sweet voice, "The queen wanted to know if you can make it to your dress fitting with your bridesmaids at eight in the morning. She knows it's early but if the dress needs alterations then the seamstress is going to need all the time she can get."

Mikan wipes a hand over her face; this was the last of her problems. But she remembered her mother's words. She needed to lay low and the best way to do that is to follow the king and queen's commands.

She looks up at her maid and suddenly a light bulb shines above her head. She grins hugely at the girl who looks at her in confusion at the drastic change in mood. The girl almost looks scared so Mikan bites down her gleeful laugh, it might sound evil to the girl's ears.

"I'm sorry, I never got the chance to ask your name and you've been with me for almost a week." Mikan says in her most polite voice.

The girl looks taken aback by the question and the sudden change of topic but she blinks and grins toothily making dimples in her cheeks, "It's Anna and the other girl is my sister, Nonoko. You don't have to worry about it, we've worked for his royal highness and his wife for almost two years and they never bothered to know our names."

Mikan nods, of course, she would expect that from them but she didn't like to think of it. Especially since just a few days ago she was a commoner and could be in the same position as these girls. She smiles genuinely at the pretty girl, "Can I ask you for a favor?"

Anna nods, "You don't have to ask," she says as the door swings open and the second maid, Nonoko enters the room. She bows to the brunette and asks her sister, "What's taking you so long? The queen's waiting."

Mikan smiles at Nonoko and then looks at Anna, she addresses both of them in her most convincing tone, "Can you guys be my bridesmaids?"

Mikan wondered how she missed the fact that they were sisters, they both had identical expressions of shock and they wore it the same way, it was obvious they were related and the resemblance seemed uncanny at the moment. She would have to start being more observant of others.

Anna's the first to recover; "Mikan-sama, I'm not sure if…" she looks to her sister for help but Nonoko still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"If it's the queen you're worried about, don't be, she doesn't have a problem with it. In fact, she told me to invite whoever I want." Mikan looks pleadingly at the two girls.

Nonoko shifts uncomfortably, "It's just that, are you sure? The press will do a background check on anyone who had a role in the wedding and when they find out that you chose your palace maids to be your bridesmaids, they might criticize you."

Mikan rolls her eyes, "It doesn't matter, they can criticize me all they want; they're always trying to find flaws in me anyway." She looks at them with pleading eyes again, "Please guys, I don't have anyone else to ask." She confesses.

Anna smiles softly, "Mikan-sama it would be an honor for us and probably the most luxurious thing we're going to do in our life but we're worried on what impact this will have on you. You can call the top models in our country and I'm sure they won't refuse you."

Mikan didn't have time for that; she didn't even have time for all these wedding extravagances. She tried again, "I don't want that, I want someone who I at least know. Please? I'll tell the king and queen to keep your identity a secret from the press if that makes you feel better."

Nonoko hesitates but Anna grins and accepts graciously, "Then, it would be an honor for us to be your bridesmaids, Mikan-sama."

Mikan cringes, "Please, don't call me that, we're the same age right?"

Nonoko hisses at her sister, "Anna, what are you doing?"

Anna turns to her sister, "I know you want to too, come on, it'll be fun." She says with glee.

Nonoko sighs and puts a hand to her forehead, Mikan looks at her with an earnest expression and she watches as the maid's shoulder blanch and she sighs in defeat. The princess to be grins and the maids rush off to tell the Queen the news.

Mikan slumps in her bed as the door closes behind her cheery maids; the future princess is exhausted to her bones from the day's shifting moods. It felt like her day consisted of crisis after crisis and only at the end had she come up with a tiny solution in the scheme of the large imposing threats.

She lay in bed for hours thinking of ways to wrap her mind around everything. Why was there a picture of her mother with the king? Who had sent her that? Did they know what her mother was hiding from her and what her father meant by diabolical plans in the palace? First thing tomorrow, she would need to get in contact with her mother, and then she would need to talk to this anonymous sender.

Tomorrow, tomorrow she would solve everything. She would find a way to contact her mother and get her to explain. Yes, tomorrow. Mikan lay making plans of tomorrow, she would fix everything then. For tonight she'll sleep and everything will look better in the morning. Hopefully. She would need to believe it would. She wanted the day to end, it was close to midnight but it felt like the day and its troubles were long from over. Mikan fell asleep when the clock stroke midnight.

Mikan dreamed of a girl running in a single hallway to nothing but darkness. There was no end and no beginning and the girl simply ran, powerless and hopeless, she ran trying to find reason and light at the end of the dark hallway. For if there was darkness then light should also be close by, right?

**~;~**

"You've sent the picture?" a woman behind a thin lace curtain asks a boy kneeling in front of her on the other side of the screen.

"Yes, my queen." The boy seems to be in the transition just between being a man and boy, his voice is rough, his gesture deep.

"You've done well. The time is coming. Be prepared, soon, you will be king," The woman says in an emotionless voice as she reaches for the wine glass next to the plate of grapes by her chair.

"It's all due to your graciousness, grandmother." He replies as he continues to kneel.

The woman in turn smiles and takes another sip from her glass. A drop from her wine falls to her white garment staining it red.

"Alright, you can go, keep me informed by all means. I have other matters to attend to, be sure to tell the maids to not let anyone in." She says wiping her blood red lips with a white handkerchief which has a single white rose embroidered at the corner of it.

The man kneels, his long dark coat swaying and falling around him and then he gets up with all the elegance and posture of a royal and leaves the room.

The woman turns her wine glass in a circular motion and watches as the red liquid sloshes and circulates around the clear glass.

She doesn't look away from the rich color of the drink as she commands in an even voice, "Tell me."

Another boy steps out from the shadows, not behind the thin curtain but from behind the woman, he leans against the wall across from the elegant woman, his arms folded he looks at the queen with detached interest. Unlike the first stranger, this boy seems to be at the primary peak of his boyhood, his stance lazy, and his eyes faraway.

"Mikan Sakura received an email from her mother yesterday. The email was sent two days ago at 3:43 am from an internet café." The boy says as though he's reading off a report to a bored crowd in a classroom at school.

The woman looks at him in amusement, "And? You did get a copy of the email for me?"

The boy tosses a printed version of the email seen on the girl's computer just a few hours before to the woman. He puts his hands in his pocket and turns to exit out the adjacent window, but he stops to call out to the woman over his shoulder, "That wasn't easy to get. I had to break into her computer after she deleted the email."

The woman smiles at the boy, her eyes shining with malevolent glee, "I'm sure it wasn't." She answers. The boy jumps out the window but catches the woman's last three words before he hits the ground.

_Well Done, Natsume. _

**~;~**

Mikan awakens the next morning to something poking her cheek. She slaps the object away and turns to her other side, snuggling closely to her fluffy pillows.

Poke. Poke.

The sleepy girl groans and slaps in the direction of the object, when her hands hits something solid and inhuman, her eyes snap open and she jumps out of her bed. She turns around slowly expecting to see something out of a horror movie.

Sitting on the opposite end of the bed with her head leaning against the bed board and looking at Mikan with her signature expressionless face is none other than Hotaru Imai holding a stick in her right hand whose end is pointing at the surprised brunette.

The amethyst eyed girl blinks and greets her best friend of almost ten years, "I'm going to kill you with my baka gun for not preparing the crab cakes."

And just like that, the girl's surroundings brighten and her heart pummels. Tears brim at the corners of her eyes and she chokes out, "Hotaru?"

"Who else you demented fool?"

Mikan laughs shakily, "How-how are you back in Japan?" Then her attention turns to the item pointing in her direction, "Did you just poke me with a tree branch?"

The expressionless girl looks down at the object she used to awaken her friend, "It's a stick."

"It has a leaf on it."

Hotaru swiftly removes the leaf and looks back at the girl, "Now it's a stick."

Mikan can't comprehend what's going on in her life anymore. She sits on the bed, her knees going weak and looks at the girl with confusion marred in her features.

Hotaru answers her unspoken question, "I came back yesterday. Imagine my surprise when all I see on the news is Japan's princess to be."

Mikan's eyes widen, "I was on the news in France?"

"You moronic idiot, you're international news. The marriage of a crown prince isn't a small matter. Don't you remember the big deal over Prince William's wedding?"

Mikan registered only parts of the sentence the cold girl spoke, she was still having a hard time feeling her limbs, she was afraid she was going to turn to mush soon.

"I leave you for four years and you decide to pull the stupidest act and become the crown princess, what is wrong with you?"

Mikan just laughs, "I missed you too, Hotaru."

Hotaru ignores her, "Explain this to me. I called Tsubasa-senpai and your mother but senpai's as confused as I am and your mother didn't pick up."

Mikan bites her lip and although her limbs were physically numb, it seemed her emotions thawed. She looked at her best friend with tear full eyes, "I really missed you," she chokes out.

The cold and expressionless girl's mask slips and her face shifts to concern, she crawls over to the crying girl's side of the bed, "what aren't you telling me?"

Mikan hiccups as tears spill onto the soft fabric of the bed, of course Hotaru would be able to see through her, "I can't tell you," she whispers and looks into the dark haired girl's eyes.

The girl blinks and Mikan catches the hurt concealed by layers of coldness behind her eyes, "Fine. I can see that you've been keeping a lot from me these past few months anyway."

Mikan panics and grabs the girl's wrist, "Wait, no. That's not what I meant. I mean, I don't know if it's safe to let you know. I'm…I'm not the safest person to be around right now, Hotaru."

Hotaru's usual cold voice sounds icier as she replies, "If you don't tell me yourself, I'll find out through other means, in ways that will leave you with nightmares. Do you want me to do that?"

Mikan laughs a little unevenly and grips the girl's hand hard, "I don't know where to start." She confesses after a moment of silence.

Hotaru squeezes her hand a little and replies, "Start from why the hell you're marrying the crown prince."

So Mikan takes a deep breath and tells her everything. She starts with how the engagement was sent to her by the royal family, then her dad's letter, her mother's email yesterday and the odd picture that was sent to her by an anonymous sender.

Hotaru stayed quiet and Mikan watched her face for any kind of response but she remained emotionless till the end. Mikan scratches her cheek after a few moments of stillness and silence, "You could say something you know, Hotaru."

Hotaru looks up at her friend with the same cool mask and Mikan sighs, "Give some sort of reaction, Hotaru."

The cold girl nods and pulls out a small gun from her back pocket, Mikan has a moment to register that the baka gun went through an upgrade before Hotaru pulls the trigger and Mikan falls off the bed and lands on her face.

The cool, expressionless girl blows on the smoke coming out of her gun and puts it back in its holder in her back pocket.

Mikan looks at the cruel girl with a mixture of shock and confusion. She feels a spasm of pain in her head and back, how could she forget how much that baka gun hurt?

Hotaru regards her as an inferior and low human as she looks down at her and then explains, "That's for not telling me sooner."

The girl was stupefied as she got up and dusted her clothes. A knock came from the door and Hotaru gave permission to the knocker to come inside.

Mikan looks back to see Anna and Nonoko come inside her room wearing casual attire, holding handbags and coffee. Anna was dressed in a light pink floral summer dress with a rose pattern while her sister adorned jean shorts and a full sleeved cotton shirt with blue and white stripes. Mikan turns to Hotaru and notices her clothes for the first time. She was dressed casually as well, or as casually as Hotaru did dress, she was decked with black pants and a button down white shirt.

She looks at the three of them in confusion, "Why are you guys dressed like that?"

Nonoko seemed a bit embarrassed but Anna replies breezily, "We have to go for your fitting and the bridesmaid dresses."

Oh right. Mikan looks away from the girls and tries but fails to put on an excited expression on her face. She couldn't get herself to care at all, not after last night's events. She sighs audibly and looks at Hotaru for help.

Anna brings a steaming cup of coffee and puts it next to her nightstand, Mikan looks at her quizzically and the sweet girl smiles as she says, "You're not a morning person so I thought maybe this'll help you. I don't know what you prefer but you like sweet things so we brought caramel flavored mocha."

Mikan takes the coffee cup and sips it. It warms her insides and clears her mind a bit; it didn't taste too bad either. She looks back and smiles gratefully at Anna.

"Ok, come on. You need to get dressed too. It's already 7:30 and the appointment is at 8:00. You won't be leaving a very good impression by getting there late." Hotaru chided her and got off the bed, she looked towards the two pretty girls standing to the side, "Where are her clothes?"

"Oh, I'll get it." Anna says and scrambles to reach the closet but Hotaru stops her by holding up a hand. "It's fine, just go get the car ready and tell the chauffeur we'll be there in ten minutes."

The two sisters nodded and bowed to Mikan as they left the room. Mikan puts her head in her hands listening to the quick footsteps of her cheery maids as they climbed down the staircase.

"Get up, I told you we can't be late." Hotaru tells her brusquely. Mikan looks at her with pathetic eyes as she wallows, "I can't do it, Hotaru. My mom is who knows where and I'm supposed to be planning for this damn wedding? I can't, Hotaru I won't." The girl looks at the floor, trying to bore a hole through the soft carpet.

Hotaru sighs and comes to sit next to her on the bed, "Mikan, you don't have the authority to decide for yourself any longer. When you accepted that engagement, you didn't agree to marry just the crown prince; you agreed to marry his family and his country. You can't be like this. All of Japan is watching your every movement; you have to give them what they want. You're going to have to learn to conceal your real emotions and put on masks if you want to survive in this place. Everyone here is going to try and make you fall; no one wants you to gain the title of the crown princess. They want something like that for themselves."

Mikan swallows, "I don't want to do it anymore, isn't there anything I can do? Do I have no power?" She asks miserably.

Hotaru sighs sadly, "No. Not yet, but you will. Remember what you came here for, what your dad said? You can't give up halfway; you know you would disappoint him by acting like this."

Mikan bites out bitterly, "Yeah, because it's not like he hasn't given me disappointments in life."

Her friend breathes exasperatedly, "Ok, fine. We'll figure out a way for all of this once things have settled. For right now, you need to put on a mask. Look like a girl whose about to get married and gain fortunes and assets. If they sense something off about you, you're done. You're only putting those around you in danger by exposing yourself."

That catches Mikan, she knew the impact her actions would have on herself but if they were going to affect those around her…her mom, Hotaru or even her maids. She swallows thickly and wipes at her eyes.

She looks at Hotaru, "Ok, teach me. Will I be able to put on a mask?"

The amethyst eyed girl smiles sadly, "Yeah, you will. I just hope it doesn't become a permanent fixture like mine."

**~;~**

"Can't…breathe…" Mikan chokes and gasps for air as a blonde haired woman with dark green eyes pokes the last pin in place.

The woman gets up from the floor where she was kneeling beside the bride to be in an elegant long cream dress. "There, now it's perfect."

Hotaru glares menacingly at the woman, "How is that perfect, she can't breathe."

The woman waves a hand at the cold girl as she circles Mikan and taps her chin, scrutinizing her work while the auburn haired girl's face turns a deathly shade of blue from lack of oxygen.

The cold furious girl standing to the side takes out her upgraded gun and point at the woman but before she pulls the trigger the woman gives a final nod and removes a pin near the bodice and the dress falls down.

Mikan gasps out loud as air enters her lungs and then moves to the adjacent sofa dressed only in a tank top and shorts.

The woman smiles at the gasping girl, ignorant of her lack of oxygen or bumbling maids that dance around her in worry and the livid girl standing off to the side watching her with a cold expression.

She talks in delight as she gathers the fallen fabric off the floor, "You're much more petite than I had originally predicted so the dress will go for a bit more fitting but the length is perfect and the light color and pattern suit your body shape." She talks on but no one is really listening to her when she talks about the type of fabric and the flower pattern she originally designed but later altered when she saw Mikan's picture.

Mikan turns to the two girls fumbling around her, "did you guys find the dresses you wanted, the queen said the palace will pay for whatever it is."

Anna nodded shyly, "It's a very kind offer of her majesty but we can't possibly ask that of her. We'll be happy with whatever Mikan-sama chooses for us."

Mikan makes a face at her, "I told you not to call me that, it feels weird when we're the same age."

Anna nods but doesn't say anything so Mikan sighs and turns to the bubbly seamstress, "Give us two of your best bridesmaid dresses."

The woman looks up and grins, "And who are they for?" she asks. Mikan gestures towards the two shy girls, standing awkwardly to the side.

The woman nods happily and says she'll be back as she runs off to the back of the store most likely to retrieve her most prized dresses. Mikan looks at Hotaru, "I'm guessing you already chose your dress?"

Hotaru holds up a lavender dress with white flowers attached to the single shoulder strap and the bodice, "of course your maid of honor has to have an amazing dress, especially when the palace is being generous with their money."

Mikan smiles, she didn't get to ask Hotaru if she would be her maid of honor but she didn't need to, there was no one else for that role but her. She hadn't ever dreamed of weddings like little girls did, her father had taken away all such dreams with him but she knew that if one day life gave her a chance to walk down an aisle then Hotaru would have to be their too, in her honor. She just wished this happened under different circumstances.

The blonde woman came rushing back with two beautiful periwinkle dresses with a deep and rich color folded over her arms.

Anna and Nonoko were each handed a dress and they both disappeared to the changing rooms a few feet away from where Mikan and Hotaru were sitting.

The shop was filled with mostly whites, white dresses, white veils, white ribbons, etc. It was like somebody sucked out the rainbow and left only white around. The prom dresses and other colorful ones were kept in the back near the corners so that they would only be visible to those who specifically came for them. The room made Mikan's head hurt. She didn't know why, the colors were light and it wasn't like there was anything overwhelming with the decoration but the whole store made Mikan sick and she just wanted to leave. Maybe it was the pre-wedding nerves or butterflies or whatever it was called when your stomach twisted and threatened to swallow your organs. Mikan just knew that she felt it. And that it wasn't a very pleasant feeling.

"You look sick." Hotaru commented watching her from the opposite loveseat in front of her. Her stance resembled that of a queen with the way her head lay lazily to the side and her arms draped over the seat.

Mikan registered that Hotaru looked more like a princess that Mikan ever could, "Yeah, not feeling too well. Can we leave now?"

Hotaru gets up and walks towards the register just as Anna and Nonoko dance out of the changing rooms, twirling as they come into the room so that their pretty skirts flow around them. Mikan smiles with effort, she was exhausted but it wasn't too hard, the girls looked absolutely stunning in their dresses, it complimented their bright features and hugged their figures perfectly, "You guys look beautiful." She tells them sincerely.

Nonoko blushed and thanked Mikan politely but Anna beams and twirls around some more and she gushes about how wonderful the dress is. Mikan grins, Anna's happiness was contagious, but it wasn't enough to make the throbbing in her head and the uneasiness in her stomach go away.

Which is why Mikan finds herself in her room half an hour later tucked under the bed sheets and drinking hot chocolate. Hotaru convinced the king and queen that Mikan was too fatigued and overwhelmed with the upcoming wedding so she was too sick to attend the prince's coronation or take part in any of the wedding fiascos. Mikan was mildly surprised by how convincing her best friend could be but she was grateful to her. Hotaru lay beside Mikan tapping away on Mikan's laptop as the sick bride to be laid her head on her friend's shoulder and watched the odd numerical and symbolic figures on her laptop screen.

She didn't question what was going on or why her laptop had nothing but a black screen filled with neon green symbols, she knew that Hotaru wouldn't answer and in the odd chance that she did, Mikan wouldn't understand the answer anyway.

Mikan sipped her drink and the computer screen blinked. Hotaru sighs in frustration and starts typing furiously on it. It was the third time that this happened, Mikan couldn't hold back anymore, she extracted her head from her friend's shoulder and turns to look at her, "What is it, what's taking you so long to retrieve the email?"

Hotaru bites her lip and replies not taking her eyes off the screen, "Someone cracked in. I don't who it is, they didn't leave any evidence and they completely annihilated the file, there's no way to recover it."

Mikan's eyes widened, "What? Who could've done that? I didn't give my laptop to anyone."

Hotaru shook her head and continued to type, "You didn't have to. They could've done it while you were sleeping or away from your room; I told you that you have to be aware of everyone here." She stops typing and closes the laptop.

The cold girl turns to Mikan, "think about it. Who else comes into your room?"

Mikan shakes her head, "Only Anna and Nonoko are allowed. No one else can come in. Hotaru it's not them. I know them, they wouldn't do this."

Hotaru looks at her sharply, "You trust others far too easily. You haven't even known them for a week, how do you know someone didn't pay them to do this?"

Mikan looked away, she didn't want to think this way about her maids. Its true that Mikan trusted others easily and put her faith in too many people but she didn't want to live any other way, how could she live with being suspicious of everyone around her? What kind of life would it be if she would have to look over her shoulder to make sure that the person walking behind her wasn't about to stab her in the back?

Hotaru seemed to understand her friend's silence, "That's what it's like here. You should've known that before coming here."

Mikan presses her lips together and looks back into the cold eyes of the girl beside her, "I can't do that. Putting on a mask is one thing but I can't live in fear that everyone here is out to get me. I can't live my life that way, I'd go insane Hotaru."

Hotaru breathes out in exasperation, it's like nothing she said registered to this annoying girl. She looks up at her with resignation, "Fine. Let's see how long you can keep that up. I'm going to look into both your maids and see if there's anything suspicious with them. Is there anyone else that has entered your room or you're suspicious of entering your room?"

Mikan thought about it. No one but Anna and Nonoko ever came in. They were the only ones aloud, was there anyone else other than maids that had access to her room? Mikan looked back at Hotaru and answered, "There's no one else, and they can't come through if the sensor at the door doesn't recognize them." Mikan's eyebrows furrows, she looks up at Hotaru with wide eyes, "But…the balcony…" Suddenly Mikan puts a hand to her mouth.

Hotaru looks at her in alarm for a moment before her expressionless mask slips into place and she asks in a cold voice, "What about the balcony, Mikan?"

Mikan shakes her head like a madwoman, "No, it can't be. Hotaru my room is connected to the crown prince's. I keep it locked from my side but I left my balcony window open the night I checked my mom's email. My room isn't too high but no one can climb up to the room because of the alarms and sensors hidden in the walls..."

Hotaru looks at her with the same calm and cold expression that makes Goosebumps run down Mikan's arms, she gulps and continued, "My balcony is really close to the crown prince's, he could easily jump and enter my room."

Mikan looks at the door that leads to her fiancé's room in fear, and says in a shaky voice, "I think the crown prince is the culprit."

**A/N: Yeah, not really a cliffy…but I'll try working on them. This is by far the longest chapter that I've written. But it felt good to finish it. Sorry if there are too many mistakes, there are probably a lot because I'm editing this late and I'm so sleepy but I want to post this before sleeping. Also, sorry for the wait, College is getting overwhelming since there's only like four more weeks of classes left and then finals…eeepp. But that also means winter break and then I can write stress free. Anyway thank you for your so very beautiful reviews, especially **_**adrienna22**__**, **_**your review was really entertaining to read. And well that's it, I guess. Let me know what you think! **__


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: Sam, would you like to do the honors?**

**Sam: Sure. *takes microphone from me* This idiot is too stupid and dumb to own something as genius as Gakuen Alice. She's also too slow to actually come up with an original story line and had to borrow from the awesome Korean drama, Goong also known as Princess Hours. Oh and did I mention how moronic she is fo- *I grab microphone back from her***

**Me: Thank you Sam, I think they get the idea. Onwards to the actual thing at hand:**

**~;~**

Mikan found it hard to breathe again. She wanted to take it back, why had she said that? She didn't know why but just thinking that Natsume was a possible culprit sent metal shards through her heart. It just couldn't be him, he wasn't like that. It had to be someone else. Maybe a maid from his room jumped on her balcony or something and entered her room like that. It could be anyone; there were thousands of people in the palace, what are the chances that it was her fiancé out of all of them?

Mikan grimaced, when had this happened? Why did she want to deny that it was Natsume behind this? She bit her lip and looked at Hotaru. The cold girl seemed to understand the look that Mikan displayed so openly in her eyes, Hotaru looked pained as she said, "You've started to care for him." It was a statement, she didn't need to question; the evidence of the statement was written all over Mikan's face after all.

Mikan turned to deny her firmly but it all died in her throat as the image of last night passed behind her eyes, Natsume sitting on her balcony, the wind playing with his hair, his face open and vulnerable under the starry sky. Her heart raced just thinking about it. She looked at the floor trying to organize her jumbled thoughts. It couldn't be him, this was Natsume, sure he was rude and mean to her but he was still kind under all the layers of coldness.

Hotaru looked ahead at the wall as she spoke, "Stop. At this point you'll end up falling for him." Mikan snapped her head towards the stoic girl, "That's not true. I care for him as a friend; he just doesn't seem like the kind of person to do this." She explained but Hotaru just looked at her dryly.

Mikan chewed her cheek, there was no way, the auburn haired girl shook her head from side to side, she had promised herself never to fall for any man, to ever allow herself to care for another, she already knew how it all ended. She had watched her mother cry herself to sleep enough nights to know that love ruins a person, that it breaks them until they can never be whole again.

Mikan looked up at her friend with hazel brown eyes filled with terror. "No, I-he was just nice and he helped me. That's it. I won't like him, I promise." She didn't know if she was talking to Hotaru or herself anymore. A new kind of fear started developing in the corners of heart, fear that she might start trusting, that she could break into unfixable pieces. No, she would never, she knew how fragile feelings were, and she wouldn't allow herself to have anymore.

Hotaru took her friend's hand, "Its not like I don't want you to ever fall in love, I do. But I want you to love the right kind of person."

Mikan nodded, her guard had been down for too long, it was time to put up the doors that she always had around others. She needed to take precautions from now on.

Hotaru squeezed her hand a little and then let go. She looked back at the laptop and went back to business, "Since you deleted the email and it's impossible to retrieve now, we'll have to find another way to find your mother's location. I'll have to look into it; maybe we can track her cell phone. Do you know her number?"

Mikan nodded, she wrote the only cell phone number she knew from memory on a scrap piece of paper and handed it to Hotaru, "I doubt she still has it, she didn't want me to contact her." Mikan added softly, she was still thinking about their conversation for her heart wouldn't retain its original beat. It was still beating over time with this new knowledge she had just gained.

Hotaru took the piece of paper, "It's the only clue we have so we'll start with this. I'll take care of it later; right now show me the email you got from that unknown sender."

Mikan opened her email and opened the file with the picture. Hotaru scrutinized the picture with her normal cool expression, "It's your mom and the king? Do you have any idea why they're together?" Hotaru asked.

Mikan shook her head, "No, but I don't think this means anything bad, Hotaru. Mom and dad would both talk about their childhood friends; maybe they knew the king from before."

Hotaru narrowed her eyes and continued to glare at the picture, "Then why didn't your mom tell you? Why would she hide this? And why would this person send you an email of them, what are they tying to prove by this?"

Mikan looked closely at the picture, her mother looked so beautiful, there were no lines of stress around her lips, no dark shadows under her eyes from sleepless night and her skin looked so healthy, the color was pale but it seemed to shine. Mikan touched the face of her mother on the screen sadly as she said wistfully, "She looks so happy. She doesn't smile like this anymore Hotaru; do you think it's because of me that she's like how she is now?"

Hotaru snapped her eyes to the girl beside her, "What?"

Mikan didn't look away from her mother's smile as she answered, "think about it, Hotaru. Maybe it's all because of me? My dad leaving, my mom on the run, me becoming the fiancé so randomly. It's not like I doubted that my existence had no relevance to these events but Hotaru what if I started this whole thing? What if I'm the cause?"

Hotaru's looked at Mikan coldly and shook her arm so the girl looked at her, "Stop talking nonsense? What would you have to do with any of this? You were just a child when your father ran away; your mom didn't tell you anything."

Mikan smiled sorrowfully, "You know there were days after my dad ran away that I would sit and make promises. If he came back, I would be better, if he came back for me and mom then I would help in my chores more, I would be a good girl. But then there were nights when I held my mother's crying form and wondered with guilt if maybe the reason he left was me. I don't know what everyone is hiding but I'm scared to find out now, what if it turns out that I'm the root cause of all this chaos?"

The amethyst eyed girl moved so that she was sitting right in front of Mikan, "Stop. This isn't going to help us solve anything. You were always quick to put the blame on yourself since we were young but Mikan this makes no sense, how is it your fault if you were simply born?" The girl's tone took on an icy form and her eyes regarded the despondent brunette harshly.

Mikan shook her head, "I'm scared to find out what all of this means for me Hotaru."

"Then we'll stop, no one's forcing us to continue. For all we know, this could all mean nothing." Hotaru turned to close the laptop but Mikan's hand shot out to stop her.

"I can't stop. I don't know if it's important but I don't want to stay ignorant either. Not here, where there are so many secrets. If I can find out even a little bit about what this is, I can have some sort of advantage."

Hotaru pressed her lips together, "Then you have to promise me that you won't start rotting in guilt when we don't even know what part you have in all this. I told you, you have to be strong or at least try if you want to survive here."

Mikan couldn't make promises she couldn't keep so instead she said, "I'll put on the mask you told me to and I'll try to keep a level head." She insisted with her clear honest eyes.

Hotaru didn't miss that Mikan didn't promise but she let it go, she would try again later when the stubbornness had reduced to a lesser level, when the stupid girl wasn't caught on being noble.

Both girls turned back to the laptop then and Hotaru started typing strange symbols and letter again as Mikan watched.

**~:~**

"Why did you come out of the queen mother's room last night?" A voice from behind Natsume asked. The boy stopped cold, his insides going hard as he turned around slowly to look behind him.

Ruka stood with his arms crossed looking at his friend with a hard expression on his angelic face; Natsume looked behind him to make sure no one else was there and hadn't heard. The two boys were outside the east wing of the palace standing on the long wooden hallway that leads inside the palace.

When Natsume didn't reply and simply stood there with his hands in his pocket and a blank expression on his face, Ruka stepped closer. "Natsume, you hate her. We hate her. Don't you remember what she's done to Aoi? What are you doing getting involved with her?"

Natsume looks to the side, staring out into the palace yard, he didn't want to look into his friend's clear eyes; it made it hard to lie to him when he looked at him so sincerely. "Ruka don't get involved."

Ruka's eyes fill with anger and he steps closer to Natsume, "Answer me Natsume, what were you doing in the queen mother's room?"

Natsume sighs lazily and turns to the blonder boy with a sneer, "Go away Ruka, it isn't your business."

That had done it, Ruka had an easy going nature and his patience was infinite, it had to be for him to remain close friends with Natsume but the infuriating boy had even found the limit to infinity in Ruka's benevolence and fortitude with his irritating attitude. So no one could blame Ruka when his hand formed a fist and without hesitation collided with Natsume's jaw.

Natsume stumbled back more from shock then impact; he almost fell but managed to ground himself in the last second. He looked at Ruka ready to comment on his behavior but his friend wasn't done yet. He grabbed Natsume's shirt front and brought him close enough so that Natsume couldn't look away from his clear blue eyes, "I know your pattern Natsume, your pushing me away because you're doing something dangerous again, and you don't want me to be exposed to anything peril."

"It's not going to work, if you don't tell me what's going on with you, it doesn't matter. I'll just follow you into impending danger and be swallowed up with you. I made the mistake of letting you go by yourself once and I have to live with the regret of not only loosing you into it but loosing Aoi too for the rest of my life." Ruka let go of him but looked at him with eyes filled with years of sorrow and a face that held regret and repentance.

Natsume looked at the ground, "You don't understand, idiot. I can't risk loosing you too."

Ruka laughed bitterly, "You don't have a choice, I'm not ten anymore, I wont watch your retreating back the way I did then."

Natsume sighed in frustration and looked at his friend with eyes filled with anger, "Don't add to my burdens, Ruka."

Ruka shook his head and looked at him with firm eyes, "Its hell waiting for you. I'm following you Natsume; whether it's in the face of danger of if you're falling into a fiery pit, I'll jump in to follow you if I have to."

Natsume fisted his hair in growing aggravation, "Provoke me anymore and I'll just push you into it."

The blue eyed boy smiled then, but looked at his best friend with a stern face, "Go right ahead, but I'll crawl right out, I can be just as stubborn as you. You're not doing this without me, Natsume, if your going back into the queen mother's clutches then I'm offering myself up to her too."

Natsume turned to a different tactic, "Think of Hotaru, if you really love her then you wouldn't put her through this."

"I could say the same about your fiancé, your getting married tomorrow."

"Tch. I don't care for that ugly girl."

"Don't lie, this started again when she came into the palace, she's involved too."

Natsume grimaced, "The queen mother wants her."

Ruka raised an eyebrow, "And you're protecting her?"

Natsume looked away as he answered in a pained voice, "No, I'm protecting Aoi."

**~;~**

Hotaru looked at the computer in her hands with a dry expression, "Mark of Death? Seriously?"

Mikan smiled, "They're probably going for a dangerous and mysterious persona."

Hotaru snorted and continued to type, she frowned after a few minutes; Mikan noticed her expression had hardened, "What is it?"

"This email isn't traceable." Hotaru said with resigned exasperation.

"The person deleted the id after they sent the email?"

Hotaru narrowed her eyes at the screen, "no, we can still trace it back to the computer they deleted the id from. This email is protected by legal authorities. Whoever sent this email sent it from a secure powerbase, if I crack in; I could be breaking the law and could go to jail." 

Mikan's eyes widened, "What? D-don't do that. It's fine. Can't we just email back and ask them who they are?"

Hotaru gave her a sideways look, "And the chances that we'll get a reply are?"

Mikan sulked, "Ok well, still it's not worth risking jail, so stop."

Hotaru continued to type and Mikan turned to her with terror filled eyes, "Hotaru!"

"Calm down, idiot. I'm replying to the email like you said, I'll add a tracer to the email so that when the email is opened we can trace it to the computer." She replied monotonously.

Mikan's eyebrows furrowed, "I thought you said that the computer's protected."

Hotaru didn't stop typing on the laptop when she replied to the girl, "I said I can't break in but if they open the email then they allow access themselves, its how you allow viruses on your computer."

Mikan nodded at this information and couldn't help but be impressed by the amethyst eyed girl. After a few minutes of insistent typing Hotaru finally stopped and leaned against the bed board sighing with accomplishment.

"What did you say in the reply?" Mikan asks. Hotaru turns the computer screen towards the brunette so she can read the single sentence Hotaru sent as a reply.

_Who are you?_

**~;~**

In a dark room at the very bottom of the castle lies a dungeon. There's no way out and no way in except through a secret passage from the queen mother's chamber. But there are only two people within the castle that know of its existence, and neither wishes to share that knowledge with others.

The room is a shallow area with no windows or doors. There is a bed, a doll and a single closet with tattered clothes and broken hair pins. There are no mirrors in this room.

On the bed lies a young girl, age close to fifteen. She is beautiful with a mess of raven hair and soft features that curve and shorten at just the right angles. Her body a thin mass filled with grace, her eyes a deep red which have lost their light but still continue to shine.

She is a princess without gowns or jewels. She is a daughter thought to be dead. She is a beloved sister whose sight has been lost. She is a prisoner in a dark and empty room. But before all this, she is a child who hasn't seen the light for almost a decade, who hasn't had contact with another human for so long she's forgotten that others beside her exist. She is a human whose world is as big as four walls, a leaky roof and windowless space.

Her time passes differently then it flows for the rest of the world for in a room where the sun never shines and every sky is as dark as the moonless night, day seems like night and dawn never turns to morning.

**~;~**

Knock Knock.

"Come in." Mikan says for the third time now. She frowns at the door when another knock comes. Was this somebody's idea of a joke?

Hotaru had gone back an hour ago with promises to be back early at dawn tomorrow. Mikan insisted for her to stay the night but when Hotaru reminded her that she had better computer equipment and modern technology at home to trace her mother's cell phone and see if she can find the location of the unknown sender Mikan had nothing to say back to that. So she let her go.

The bride to be was lying in her bed snuggled under blankets with her second cup of hot chocolate and munching on a chocolate chip cookie happily not thinking about the impending threat of a wedding to a possibly evil prince when insistent knocks keep coming from the door.

At the fifth knock Mikan sighs with defeat and gets up from her warm bed and walks towards the door. She opens it expecting maybe Youichi or even Natsume annoying her but she finds no one. She looks around confused and then spots a maid knocking on the door _next_ to hers.

It was her fiancé's room. Mikan groans, the door was about ten inches away from her own, how was she supposed to know the difference between someone knocking on her door or her fiancé's. Maybe she should talk to the queen about her living situation here...

She's about to walk back inside when another knock comes and Mikan stops and turns to the side. The maid looks embarrassed as she knocks on the door yet again.

She looks uncomfortable when she catches Mikan staring at her but she bows in apology and continues to knock, this time talking hastily as well, "Your highness, please, you missed lunch and break fast. The queen won't be happy if you don't have anything for dinner either."

Mikan leans against the door watching this exchange curiously. The maid seemed to visibly sweat under Mikan's gaze, she knocks on the door furiously, "crown prince, your highness, _please_." She stresses the last word with a sideways look at Mikan.

The brunette idly wondered what she had done to make this maid so mortified and when no answer came after what seemed like the hundredth knock, Mikan decided to free the maid from her shambles.

She walked up to the maid stopping a foot away. She smiled politely while young maid looked back at her blankly, "Here, I'll take it." She says gesturing to the tray in her hands.

The maid didn't hesitate at all and practically pushed the metal tray into Mikan's waiting hands. Mikan looked towards the door and then back at the maid who had started retreating, "is the door locked?" She asked.

The maid shook her head, "no, but we can't go in without the crown prince's permission."

Mikan nodded and wished the maid a good night and was awarded with a bow in return. She looked at the white door in front of her and took a deep breath. She knocked once and waited approximately five seconds before she threw the door open.

Natsume wasn't in the room. She looked around expecting him to be hiding but the room was empty with no sign of the beautiful prince anywhere. Mikan sighed; of course, even he had enough human feelings to not ignore a poor maid's calls. She was surprised by how relieved she felt by knowing that the boy wasn't completely inhumane.

Stop it, Mikan chided herself. Don't be an idiot; you know what it means to have feelings. One day he'll leave her too; they always do. She put the metal tray on the prince's bedside table and turned to leave but something on the balcony caught her eye, her heart almost stopped when she recognized the messy raven hair and proud back.

Her feet carried her to the balcony door without her permission. She realized that the sliding glass door that led outside was half open and again without her brain's agreement, her limbs carried her out into the open balcony.

Natsume didn't turn but Mikan saw the slight tense ripple that went into his shoulder as she stepped up next to him by the balcony railing. She looked up at the sky not knowing what to say to him.

"I wasn't expecting you to come from behind me; I would've thought you would use your own balcony." Natsume muttered not looking at her.

Mikan didn't look at him as she responded, "What? You were thinking about me?"

Natsume turned to her now, and Mikan reciprocated his move watching as a shadow of a smirk plastered on his face, "I was. I wanted you to come out." He admitted.

Mikan raised her eyebrows but kept a straight face, ignoring the wild beating of her heart, "Honest today, are we?"

Natsume shrugged turning back to the open sky as he spoke, "You'll be my wife, and doesn't trust come first when maintaining a relationship?" Mikan didn't look away from him, her face twisting into anger at his statement.

Mikan fisted her hands. Liar, you're the one with the secrets and suspicions. She wanted to say but instead said, "Who says I want to have a relationship with you?"

Natsume looked at her from the corner of his eye as he moved several feet away so that they were on opposite sides of the balcony, Mikan looked at him in confusion and Natsume smirked at her as he replied, "Don't want to take any chances, you've already punched me once for stepping inside my room on your own will, I don't want to be abused any further because you feel like coming out into the balcony."

Mikan huffed, "Don't try to be the victim here; I've been verbally abused by you countless times." She reminded him.

Natsume looked back at her and slide back, this time turning his whole body so they were completely facing each other, "Can you keep a secret?"

Mikan was taken aback, that had come from no where. She looked up at the boy's surprisingly sincere eyes and answered almost hypnotically, "yes."

The boy looked at her with such intensity that Mikan was sure she would burst into flames at any moment, "If one day you were given enough power to ruin a person you hated, would you do it?"

The flabbergasted girl looked sideways at the balcony railing to organize her thoughts. What kind of question was that? And how was that considered a secret? She looked back at the boy and saw the raw emotion he was trying to hide. It was right there, hidden behind curtains of nonchalance in his eyes. He was desperate. He wanted an honest answer from her, it shouldn't have surprised her so much but it did, why was he asking her of all people anyway?

Mikan knew he wanted her to give him answers, but she didn't know what exactly he wanted to hear from her. She took a deep breath, this question wasn't hard and she knew the answer, her father had given her this lesson at a very young age.

"_If one day you're handed a vast amount of power, don't ever misuse it." Izumi had told the little girl with brown pigtails playing under the sun._

_She had turned to look at him with curious wide eyes, "Power, daddy? What's that?" The girl had asked. _

Mikan smiled as the answer came to her, she said it out loud from memory in answer to the question the boy had asked her, "Don't ever misuse it. Even if you have enough of it to destroy someone's life, don't do it. Because power is strong but the user who holds it is weak. Power can corrupt but it can also save, power is a choice, so choose well."

Natsume continues to look at her and Mikan starts to feel uncomfortable under the gaze, she shifts her feet and mutters, "my father said that." She tells him.

When he doesn't answer Mikan looks up at him to see that his face is mere inches from hers, "waoh," she gasps and stumbles back a few steps until her back hits the wall beside the glass door. She finds Natsume's hands trapping her as he flattens his palms on the wall by the sides of her face.

Mikan is at a loss of words as the infuriating boy tilts his head to the side, almost playfully. No way, the crown prince of Japan can be described in many words, he's annoying, irritating, pig-headed, lazy, stubborn…and much more, but he is _not_ playful.

And Mikan almost celebrated mentally when he sneered at her, of course you idiot prince, keep your moronic façade in check, "So you wouldn't ever even try to hurt someone you really loathed if you could?"

Mikan looks at him dryly, "Did you not hear a word of my philosophical rant? No, you idiot, you'll hurt yourself more in the end."

Natsume leans closer so their noses are almost touching, "And what if that's something I can bear with? What if that would be a small price for me to get revenge?"

Mikan didn't know how to answer that, she was having trouble thinking straight with Natsume invading her personal space, "Uh, revenge is never the answer, you should forgive and forget?" She had a feeling she was talking nonsense but she was having too much trouble managing her jumbled thoughts to notice.

"What if this person took away someone you really love?" Mikan blinked, her thoughts returning to her. She found it odd to hear the word love from Natsume's mouth; she had thought he didn't know the existence of such a word with his personality.

She puts her hands on his chest and roughly pushes him away, he falters on his grip and Mikan steps out of the cage his arms had made. She gives him a pointed look as she answers his question, "I still wouldn't do it. And you shouldn't either. There are other ways to get back what's been taken from you then to ruin others and steal it back." Mikan turns around ready to head back.

Natsume calls after her and she stops in her steps when she hears him, "If-if one day I betray you, will you forgive me like you said?"

She knew what this meant, she turned around to see the expression her fiancé was making, but his face was impassive with the same look of detached interest he always had. Mikan turns back around and answers him, "Yes, I would, because you would have a reason to betray me, after all." She didn't know where that came from but after she said it, she knew her words were true and she meant them. She may not have known the boy for too long but from what she could tell, the crown prince was a sincere person.

She steps inside the room and just before she makes a beeline for the door she leaves the crown prince with words she knew she's going to regret the next day, "But if there is ever another way, I hope you take it, I've started trusting you and I've been disappointed too many times in life, so I hope you don't break the fragile trust I've drained out for you."

With that she walks out of the room and the boy falls to the ground. He sighs deeply as he leans his head on the railing and puts an arm on his folded knee.

"Silly girl," he mutters as he runs a hand through his hair in growing frustration. The girl was so stupid; she was so foolish and innocent. It made Natsume want to yank out his hair when she ignorantly danced around the castle with her big shining eyes lost in a fairytale.

The dark haired prince sat outside for a long time, his heart beating fast, he wanted to throttle the girl for the effect she was already having over him. He pressed his palms to his forehead and sat under the sky thinking of the girl's words. He had once wanted power to protect those he loves but when it was power that took them away from him; he couldn't help but greed after it. He wanted it, he wanted his revenge and he could only have it if he had power.

When he closed his eyes, a pair of hazel brown eyes drifted in and out of his vision. She was wrong, what did she know? She was just a little girl who knew nothing of the cruelties of this damned world. She was an idiot.

But try as he might the boy couldn't forget her words. She said she trusted him despite his distance and suspicions; she put her faith in him. The boy's shoulder sagged, he didn't want this from her, he didn't want her trust or friendship, it was heavy and it weighed him down. It fogged his mind so much that his real purpose seemed lost in the haze and all he could see were a pair of wide shining eyes from an annoying girl who was starting to step into his heart without his permission. It was distracting. She was distracting. And he couldn't afford distractions.

He didn't know how long he sat there, he didn't know why he sat there, he told himself the night air was comfortable, that it helped him breathe, that it could be the calming darkness around him that made him feel secure, but he knew those were all excuses.

He found himself looking at the balcony besides his when his eyes weren't closed and he wasn't imagining wide hazel eyes. He couldn't help gaze at her glass door from time to time.

He wanted her to come back outside.

He just may be more foolish then the girl after all, for he spent almost two hours sitting on that hard, cold floor, waiting.

Yes, he was a world class idiot.

**~;~**

Mikan walked back to her room and shut the door behind her. She leaned against and took a deep breath to calm her wild heartbeat. She looked around the room for a distraction, she thought about going back to her laptop but then she would have to open her email and she wasn't so sure she wanted to deal with what was or wasn't in her inbox.

Her eyes landed on the balcony and she wondered for one short moment if she should go out there to check if the crown prince was still there.

She looked away quickly before her thoughts landed her somewhere dangerous. She opened her door and walked out of her room shutting the door behind her.

She wandered the hallways, unsure of where to go. Her mental map of the castle had improved but she wasn't taking any risks, she had a wedding to attend tomorrow and her presence was kind of important to the media even if it wasn't really to the groom.

She walked down the long hallway and the staircase. She didn't want to accidentally end up in the throne room but the only way she knew was to the living room where the royal family ate their dinner.

She contemplated where to go for a moment, if the living area was to the right then perhaps the left side lead to an exit somewhere. She didn't stop to think what else could be found other than the exit as she turned to the opposite direction and headed out in search of an exit.

She reached a back door in the side of the wall at the end of the hallway and by the position of it she inferred it could only lead outside. She twisted the knob and almost bumped into a tiny body when she walked out.

She stopped in time and looked down at the familiar little boy, "Youichi, what are you doing here?" She asks in surprise.

The boy looks just as surprised to see her, "What are you doing here? I thought you were sick?"

The girl bit her cheek and answers almost defensively, "I asked you first," she said childishly.

The little boy blows out a long breath making his long bangs blow skyward, "I'm on a secret mission," he tells her smiling proudly.

"Uh-huh, so what is this place?" Mikan says looking around the area, it seemed familiar, there was a green field and a familiar ranch house building, she tried to get a closer look at it but it was hard to see in the dark.

Youichi looked offended as he spoke, "Aren't you going to ask what my mission is, you stupid girl."

Mikan ignores his use of her loving name and answers still looking around, "If it has to do with hiding from your maids and ditching nap time then spare me, please."

Youichi huffs and looks at her with an annoyed face, Mikan's lips twitches as she looks at him from the corner of her eye not turning her face away from the open field.

"I'm going to ride Miraku." He tells her.

Mikan turns to the little boy and raises her eyebrows smiling down at him, "Miraku? Is that a name?"

Youichi folds his arms and looks at her with a pointed face, "I didn't name him that. He's Oni-chan's horse." He says and starts walking towards the ranch.

That's why the area looked so familiar to Mikan; it was where she had played polo with Natsume and Ruka. And won, she smirked at the memory of the crown prince's shocked face when she had made the winning goal.

She follows the younger prince as he makes his way to the horse stable, "Why do you want to ride his horse? Aren't there others?" She asks with curiosity.

Youichi glowers and answers in a tight voice, "Because he doesn't like me. He doesn't like anyone but oni-chan. He's the fastest horse we have and he won't let anyone near him but somehow oni-chan became friends with him."

Mikan follows the little boy inside the stable and walks next to him as he ignored all the other horses and goes straight to the door at the end. He unclasps the door quickly and takes a deep breath before pulling the door open to reveal a familiar black horse to Mikan.

The dark beauty looks up from where it lays munching on an apple. The horse gets up as his eyes adjust and he finds the two bystanders looking at him. Youichi gulps and walks inside the area, he looks at the horse once before all but running at it yelling as he pulls its mane and jumps on its back. Mikan watches horror as the horse neighs loudly and jumps ready to break out of the shelter and throw the small boy off its back. Mikan panics for a moment before running up to the horse and grabbing his head. She takes a deep breath and the horse stiffens, she shushes him looking closely into its black eyes and petting his face gently. When the horse relaxes she looks back at Youichi and with a murderous look commands him in a cold voice, "Get off. Now."

Youichi is blue in the face as he slowly slides off the horse and stumbles to the floor. He looks up at Mikan with sad, fearful eyes. The princess to be beckons the horse to sit back in his original position and Youichi takes this time to walk out of the horse's compound. Mikan follows him out and locks the door of the horse's room.

Once the door is locked she turns to him with cheeks red with fury, most likely scaring all the other horses in the stable, "What was that?"

Youichi doesn't look so much like a crown prince as he does like a little boy caught in a rebel act when he shuffles his feat nervously and looks down, not meeting Mikan's gaze. He answers softly, "I-I just wanted to ride him."

Mikan presses her lips together to control the storm of words threatening to spill, "What you did was really dangerous, you could've hurt yourself, you know."

Youichi looks up at her and Mikan sees the desperation in his big eyes, "I didn't mean for that. I just wanted to show everybody."

Mikan narrows her eyes at him and Youichi seemed to visibly shrink back. She sighed, "Who were you trying to show? What were you trying to prove, Youichi?" She asks a little gently this time.

The little boy's lips tremble slightly and Mikan feels her heart squeeze, he looks back at her with his big eyes, "Daddy and Momma, they both get mad at me because I'm not a good boy. I'm not allowed to call them that anymore, I have to say 'My king' and 'My queen' like oni-chan does. I don't listen to them and Oni-chan doesn't play with me anymore because he doesn't like me. I'm not as smart or as strong as him so if I could ride Miraku, I thought they would all be happy with me." His voice starts shaking by the end of the sentence and it breaks on the last word.

Mikan kneels down so they she was at eye level with the little boy, she grabs his shoulders and he looks back at her. Her heart almost breaks when she spies thick tears on the corners of his eyes. She smiles gently at him, "Youichi, your mom and dad wouldn't be happy if you hurt yourself, they would be sad if you got hurt. And as for your idiotic brother, he's a jerk but he must have a reason for being a specifically ruthless jerk to you."

Youichi just looks at her with ad despondent face so Mikan gives his shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Remember when I told you I beat your brother in Polo? I did by riding that horse."

Youichi's eyes widen and his features morph into shock, "Your rode Miraku?"

Mikan nods smiling heroically, "Yeah."

Youichi looks at her in admiration, "But how?" he asks his voice filled with confusion. "No one can ride him and come out alive," he exaggerates.

Mikan laughs lightly and ruffles the boy's head, messing his hair. "I don't understand actually. Why doesn't he allow others to ride him?" She asks.

Youichi shakes his head and fixes his messed up hair, "No one knows. Daddy told Oni-chan and me when we were little that it was a princess who rode him. He was a wild horse and she tamed him but he didn't let anyone near but her near, that's why she named Miraku, for miracle. It was a miracle that anyone could ride him. And now Oni-chan can ride him and you too, for some reason."

Mikan taps her chin thoughtfully, "How about I help you then?" She says brightly.

The little boy looks at her in surprise, "You? How?"

"Well since I can ride him and he's not uncomfortable with me, I think with a little practice, we can get him to like you too. He's an animal after all, so we can train him to like you." She says smiling at the boy.

The small prince looks up at her almost shyly and nods; Mikan gets up before she gets tempted to hug the tiny boy and most likely stop his blood circulation.

"Come on then, it's late and you've got an important job tomorrow as the ring bearer." Mikan reminds him.

The boy follows her as she makes her way out. She turns to him and smiles as she turns the knob of the horse stable.

Only to find it locked.

Mikan looks at the steel knob in confusion. She tried again, but it doesn't budge. She turns back to Youichi in confusion but he's not looking at her and instead is staring straight ahead with a frightened expression on his face. Mikan follows his gaze and realizes why when her own features twist into fright.

The small window above the door had fogged up most likely from the night's dew but that wasn't what had her and the small boy petrified in fear. A dark shadow stood just outside the door, his silhouette visible through the window as he walks up close to it. Mikan stumbles back as the figure brings its hand up to the window.

Youichi grabs her hand and she notices his arm shaking. Mikan grasps it tightly in hers and turns back to the window to witness the dark figure scrawling letters on the fogged up window. Mikan feels her body tremble as the figure finishes and does a mock bow to her before disappearing into the night.

She looks at the window and reads the sentence her teeth chattering from either the cold or the fear, she wasn't sure which but the tremor that went through her after she absorbed the words scrawled on the tiny window could only be due to fear.

_Congratulations on the wedding, Princess Mikan._

**~;~**

**A/N: Hehe, sorry everyone and especially **_BambiFor3v3r_**, I know you said you hate cliff hangers but I couldn't resist! It's not too bad though…please don't kill me. Anyway, ta-da! It's a quick update, this story has me invested and I can't wait to spill the beans about everything but I must be patient. I love reading your theories about the story, its so much fun, and it actually gives me new ideas ;)**

**And before I forget, the stuff Hotaru was explaining to Mikan about tracing emails is not true. Or well I don't know if it is, I was just making it up as I go. Also, **_gabsterela_**, I believe it was. Your question will be answered in the next chapter! :D**

**Oh and as a side note, I've been getting reviews from people to add to **_Sight_**. As of right now I don't think I can especially because that story was meant to have an open ending but I might change my mind later on if I'm too bored or I get some bright idea to end it on a better note. But for now I have my hands full with this story and well life in general, I guess. Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Do tell me if it's moving too fast though!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: You know after I finished the last chapter, my laptop broke! I had to steal my sister's so I can write this chapter.**

**Sam: Fascinating.**

**Me: Really?**

**Sam: No, nobody cares, let them read the chapter.**

**Me: Sheesh, fine…I don't own Gakuen Alice or Goong (Princess Hours)…I wish I did though.**

**Sam: And I wish I had Hotaru's baka gun to use on you. Onwards~**

**~;~**

"Natsume!" Ruka throws the door of the crown prince's room open.

The sleepy buy groans and sits up in his bed; his eyes still closed, he mutters annoyed, "What the hell, Ruka."

"Get dressed," Ruka urges the boy, throwing a random shirt at his face.

Natsume falls back into his bed, "its four a.m. Ruka. Whatever it is, it can wait till the morning."

Ruka grabs his friend's arm and pulls him up, "It can't. Hotaru came to do the wedding preparations with Mikan but she's missing. She's not in her room, Natsume."

Natsume snaps his head up, "What? She's missing?" Suddenly all the sleep leaves him and he grabs the shirt Ruka threw at him off the bed and throws it over his head.

Ruka squares his shoulders, "The palace maids said that they saw her by the east palace. Natsume, they also said they saw someone with dark clothing by the horse barn. We can guess who that it."

"Persona." He growls and runs out the door.

**~;~**

It was freezing.

Mikan and Youichi had been in the horse barn for over five hours. Mikan didn't know what time it was but she guessed by the look of the dark sky outside that dawn had broken. So it would be hours until sunrise, which means it would be hours till someone would come looking for the missing bride. She feared they might find a frozen corpse by the time they would come for her.

Whoever had locked her and Youichi had turned off the heating in the barn. She knew from experience that the normal room temperature for a horse barn was from 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit but by the look of the freezing horses she knew that wasn't the case here. She and Youichi were cuddled up against Mirakuru to keep warm; it seemed the cold had broken Mirakuru's resilient spirit for the horse allowed the small prince to lean against its stomach.

Mikan shivered, her teeth chattering, she was growing weaker, and she really wanted to sleep.

Just wait for the sunrise. People will come for you. She kept telling herself to keep from falling asleep. She clenched her jaw when she heard Youichi speak, "M-mikan Nee-c-chan it's really c-cold." He chattered not opening his eyes.

Mikan walked over from where she sat on the opposite side of Mirakuru. She took off the shawl she had wrapped around her shoulders and covered the little boy with it.

Youichi opened his eyes a little and looked at the girl's bare shoulders barely concealed by her thin cotton nightgown. He looked at her sadly, "Now you'll be cold."

Mikan smiled down at him valiantly, "I'm stronger than I look, and I've been in the cold a lot. Comes with being poor you know." She told him.

The younger prince looked at her with awe filled eyes and took her hand, "When we get out, I'll get you lots of warm things. Then you won't be poor anymore." He told her sincerely.

The girl smiled even if she didn't understand the little boy's logic. She caressed his head and he fell asleep leaning against the horse and wrapped cozily in her shawl. When she was sure the boy was sleeping soundly she waited a heartbeat and took out her hand from his grasp.

Mikan exited Mirakuru's compound and walked back towards the door. The small window had fogged up the letters that were written by the dark figure but Mikan felt like she could still read the writing. She breathed slowly and tried to break the door handle by force. The metal was cool to the touch and Mikan tried with all her might to break the knob but it wouldn't budge. She looked at it closely, it was too cold. The lock was frozen.

Mikan looked down at the knob in confusion, she knew that summer was ending and therefore the nights were getting chilly but it shouldn't be cold enough to freeze metal yet.

Mikan almost fell to the frozen ground when the realization came to her. The dark figure from before didn't plan to just lock her, he had planned to freeze her to death. She had felt that the barn was cooler than the night air had been but now she was sure, the barn was freezing because someone intentionally switched the heating button to the cooling one.

Mikan took a shaky breath and was no longer astonished to find that she could see her breath. She spent the next hour running around the barn to look for the temperature controller. It was to no avail. She circled back to the door having come up defeated. She looked out the window to see the first streaks of morning light break through from the sky.

She sighed deeply and turned to join Mirakuru and Youichi, she was freezing all over again, the sweat from running made her feel colder, feebler. A shadow from the corner of her eye caught her attention and Mikan stepped back in horror thinking that the dark figure was back probably to finish the job.

She grounded her feet, she would fight him then, she wouldn't go down without a fight and there was no way she was going to let Youichi get hurt by the hands of this evil fiend.

Mikan sucked in a breath as she heard the door unlock and fall from its clasp. She steeled herself fisting her hands as the door creaked open. She didn't stop as she felt rather than saw the person enter the barn, she ran up and brought back her fist ready to break a few teeth and dislocate a jaw and maybe a nose if she had to.

But the impact never came for her cold fist collided with an open warm palm that closed around her fist and the intruder brought his other hand to grab her elbow before she could bring that back and smash it against his ribcage.

Mikan looked up into surprised red eyes and the relief that came over her when she recognized the owner of those ruby eyes was almost jarring. Her body sagged, her fist fell and her elbow came loose but the boy still grabbed onto it roughly.

He looksdown at her with shocked eyes, for once unable to hide his emotions, "What are you doing here?" he asks her.

The girl was suddenly too exhausted to answer as the relief faded and exhaustion took its place, her knees grew weak but she locked them in place to keep herself steady, "Somebody locked us in." She said looking at him with tired hazel eyes.

She thought she saw a spark of fury in those beautiful eyes before they shifted into emotionless orbs. The boy looked at her quizzically, "Us?" He asks her.

"Youichi and me," the girl answers and tries to move a little away but the boy's hold on her elbow tightens and he says in an almost pained voice, "You're freezing."

Mikan shakes her head and tries again to move away so she can sit, she wasn't sure she could stand any longer with everything around her spinning and this time Natsume thankfully lets go of her elbow, "Someone turned the air conditioning on to a high level. Go get Youichi, he's sleeping inside." She tells him and turns to sit on the floor but at that moment her head spins and her fatigue and loss of sleep catches up with her and she goes crashing to the ground.

Natsume moves fast and catches the girl before she hits the ground. He wraps an arm around her waist, keeping her standing even as she looses consciousness. Her head lolls back, limp to the side. Natsume cups her cheek with his other hand to keep her head from slouching, "You're so cold," he whispers to her in a tiny voice. He tightens his hold around her waist and brings her up to hug her wilted body. He closes his eyes for a moment as he puts his face at the nape of her neck, holding her freezing body tightly. "I'm sorry," he whispers to the unconscious girl, "I'm so sorry." He says again in a tight voice hugging her to him firmly as his body shakes with anger.

This wasn't the plan, _he_ wasn't following orders anymore, _he_ was acting on his own. Natsume closes his eyes for a moment, trying to think through the red haze in his mind, he needed to get the girl out of here. That needed to come first, before everything else.

Natsume sighs into the girl's hair and loosens his hold on her waist as he puts his other arm under the girl's knees hoisting her cold form up in his arms. He hugs her closely to keep her warm as he walks to the stable at the end of the barn to retrieve his younger brother. His mind was boiling over. _He_ didn't even realize Youichi was in the room, the boy was just a kid; he didn't have anything to do would this, yet he got involved.

By God, If Youichi was injured even the slightest, Natsume would be breaking spines tonight. When he steps inside, he breathes out in relief to see his kid brother wrapped cozily in a scarf resting warmly against Mirakuru.

He deliberates putting the girl down to wake his brother up but is spared from making the choice when the small prince shifts and groans stretching his tiny form as he opens his ruby eyes. He rubs his eye with a small fist and looks up at his older boy groggily, "Oni-chan? Is this a dream?" He asks.

Natsume shakes his head, "No, a bad nightmare. But now you're awake so get up, can you walk?" He asks his younger brother with worry in his eyes.

The small boy blinks but nods and gets up quickly as the shawl falls to the ground. He picks it up gingerly and bundles it in his arms holding it tightly to himself, "This is Nee-chan's; she gave it to me when I was cold, then it wasn't a dream." He says looking up at the tall boy.

Natsume looks at the pale shawl and his cool expression almost breaks when he looks back at the owner of it in his arms. He looks away quickly to compose himself and starts walking out the barn door. He calls to the tiny prince over his shoulder, "Come on, you may not be cold but this one is close to catching Pneumonia. Lock the door behind you."

The younger boy nods and does as ordered then runs after his brother towards the castle.

**~;~**

Hotaru opens the door quickly when she hears somebody hit against it with their foot. She looks at the crown prince with a cold murderous expression, "Where was she?" She asks him.

Natsume lays the girl down in her bed and pulls the covers closely around her freezing body as he answers, "In the horse barn. She was locked in, someone tried to freeze her." He says then sighs softly looking at the still girl's face. He touches her cold cheek lightly with the back of his hand for a moment and lingers for a heartbeat too long before getting up quickly and walking towards the door. The icy girl stops him by putting an arm in front of the door as he's about the exit, "And who locked her in, Hyuuga?"

The equally cold prince looks at her with a blank expression, "Why don't you find out? Word around is your good at tracking others."

Hotaru narrows her eyes, "And how would you know that?" she says monotonously but her voice holds a threat and it doesn't go unnoticed by the dark prince.

He smirks in her direction, "You won't find any traces on the laptop, Imai. Don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong and don't involve her where she has no business getting involved." He says gesturing to the sleeping girl on the bed.

Hotaru moves to block his exit out the door. He looks down at her with cold eyes and she reciprocates the look folding her arms over her chest as she regards him icily, "I could say the same about you, Hyuuga. I don't know what you and Ruka are hiding from me but you two are too damn over your heads for thinking I won't figure it out. And as for where Mikan is concerned, if you _ever_ bring her back in the form you brought her in today, you won't be leaving this room with all your limbs in tact like today." She says and smiles coldly as she moves to the side to let him leave.

Natsume's lips twitch slightly as he exits the door with his hands in his pockets.

Hotaru shuts the door behind him and walks over to the bed where the bride to be lay. She sighs as she sit at the edge of her bed, pushing her bangs away from her eyes, "You moron, what have you gotten your self into," she says gently.

**~;~**

"_Where am I?" A girl with long brown tresses asks the still quietness around her._

_The brunette stands in a bright room where the color pink adorns everything and anything in sight. Light pink walls, winterberry curtains, fuchsia furniture, dark pink stuffed animals; it was like someone threw up pink in here. _

_Mikan turns to see a little girl sleeping on a small pink bed with net curtains around it like a makeshift princess's bed. She walks towards it recognizing the childish setting at once. She peaks inside the thin curtains and finds a little girl with short brown hair and a large teddy bear lying peacefully together side by side._

_The door opens and a man and woman come dancing inside holding a strawberry cake. The woman pulls back the curtain and morning light washes over the sleeping girl. The man tickles the little girl awake and she giggles as she gets up, the small girl rubs her eyes with her small fists and her eyes widen when they land on the strawberry cake with four birthday candles on it._

_Mikan takes stiff steps towards the man sitting at the edge of the girl's bed grinning from ear to ear, she reaches out a hand as she says in a broken whisper, "dad?" but her hand goes through him and her voice lost in some timeless abyss as no one hears her call._

"_Happy Birthday Mikan!" Her parents yell. Mikan snaps her head towards the birthday cake. She breathes lightly as the memory comes to her, warm and familiar but hollow all the same._

"_Wow, breakfast in bed!" The small girl on the bed grins at her parents and takes the cake plate into her hands. She smiles down at it, watching as the light from the fire makes shadows on the cake. Her mother prods her, "What are you waiting for? Make a wish!" _

_The girl nods and looks back at the glowing candles; she closes her eyes as she whispers, making an eternal wish. The birthday girl opens her large eyes and she looks back at the pink frosted cake, but before she blows the fire out, her eyes travel to the side and lock with her father's as if waiting for an affirmation from him._

_The man smiles gently at the girl and nods slightly, go ahead. The girl grins at him and turns back to the cake and with one big puff of breath, she blows out all four candles._

_Mikan watches the scene unfold with tears running down her face, it was a happy memory but she couldn't help but feel a deep pain in the center of her hollow chest as she watches the memory play in front of her eyes._

_Suddenly the room shifts and the pink walls transform into big metal gates. The small girl stands by them wearing a school uniform instead of the pink fuzzy pajamas from before._

"_Ok Mikan, be good. Listen to your teachers and don't annoy Hotaru during class." Her mother says as she fixes the girl's ribbons and straightens her shirt._

_The small girl giggles, "I will, mom." She says and moves a little away before her mother can start fixing her already pristine uniform again for the third time, "sheesh, you're more nervous then me." _

_Her mother holds her two small hands and Mikan sighs when she sees fat tear drops in the woman's eyes, "Mom, come on, I'll be back in three hours." She says patting the woman's cheek._

_The man beside Mikan's mother chuckles and grabs the woman by the waist, "Come on Yuka, your going to make her late on her first day." He says and hugs the woman to his side to hold her back from blocking the little girl's entry._

_He grins down at his daughter, "Ok, I've got her, run for it." He tells her._

_The young Mikan nods, grinning back. She runs to the school gates and just before she walks through, she looks back at her father and again asks for approval through her eyes._

_The man again smiles gently hugging Mikan's mother to him and nods softly, go ahead. _

_Mikan watches the exchange and when the landscape shifts again, she gets ready for another flashback but it doesn't come. Instead she's awarded by darkness that swallows her up and dulls her senses. _

_I'm dreaming, she realizes as the darkness fully engulfs her._

**~;~**

"Why the hell did you lock her in a freezing horse barn?" Natsume says approaching a tall figure from behind.

The figure turns slowly, he makes a show of rubbing his forehead and blowing his nails, "What is it to you?" He says not looking away from his long clean cut nails.

Natsume makes a fist and his shoulders shake slightly but he calms himself down to say in an even cold voice, "This wasn't the queen mother's orders."

The man looks up and raises an eyebrow as he sneers, "Since when were you a rule follower? My orders were to scare and threaten the little girl; it was up to me what means I use." He says smiling frostily.

Natsume practically growls, "That was threatening? She could've died in there!"

The man snorts, "If I didn't know any better, I would think our crown prince had started caring for his little fiancé."

Natsume takes two long strides and shoves the man up by his shirt collar, "Shut the hell up. The queen mother wants her safe and unharmed. If any damage comes her way, whether that old lady approves of it or not, you'll be getting more than one broken arm unlike last time." He spits staring deeply into the man's black bottomless eyes.

Then man chuckles darkly, "Yeah? Try it, Hyuuga. But remember your dear little sister is still within my palms." He shoves the boy aside and fixes his collar.

He smiles at Natsume's rigid form and turns around walking back the same way he was before being rudely interrupted by the angry prince.

**~;~**

Four Hours Later.

Anna and Nonoko hustle inside the room carrying boxes of make up, hair accessories, shoes, and a white dress enclosed in a clear bag.

Hotaru stops typing from where she lies next to Mikan, she looks up at the girls in confusion for a moment before she looks at her watch that reads eight a.m. and her expression clears. She turns to the sleeping girl beside her and sighs softly; she didn't want to wake her up.

Anna and Nonoko look at each other in confusion; they had thought the princess to be was already out of bed and waiting on them.

Hotaru gets up from the bed and walks to the side where Mikan lay peacefully. She kneels by her and lightly touches her arm jostling her awake. Mikan opens her eyes slowly and looks at Hotaru in confusion.

Hotaru smiles sadly, "Wake up, today's your wedding."

**~;~**

After minutes of shoving and pushing the sleepy brunette, her bridesmaids finally pry her off the bed and throw her into the bathtub filled with warm water to relax her muscles and soothe her headache and fatigue.

Mikan tries to stay in the warm water as long as she could but the insistent knocking made it otherwise. She steps out wrapped in her bathrobe and a towel over her head. Her cheeks were still too warm and her nose clogged.

"Hotaru," she says in a thick voice to the girl behind the divider changing into her dress for the wedding, "My head hurts and I can't breathe right." She says putting a hand to her forehead and taking a seat on the leather sofa.

Hotaru steps out from behind the divider clad in the silk lavender dress. Mikan looks up as she hears the girl walk up to her, she smiles happily at her despite the pain that was splitting her head in half, "You look so pretty, Hotaru." And she did, the lavender color made the cold girl's eyes stand out more and her features look softer, less angular and warmer.

The girl ignored the compliment and instead popped out a red pill from her matching purse and handed it to Mikan. The brunette took the pill and looked up at her beautiful maid of honor in question, "What's it for?"

"Thankfully you didn't get Pneumonia, but you have a fever and you're catching a nasty cold so you won't have your strength. This pill will last you through the wedding, but after that you'll most likely faint from exhaustion." Hotaru explained.

Mikan nodded looking at the pill in her hands. Hotaru handed her a glass of water from the adjacent table and Mikan swallowed down the medicine as her two bridesmaids came dancing out dressed in their beautiful dresses. Mikan grinned at their happy faces and was awarded by being hoisted off the couch and to a massage chair where odd smelling face masks were slapped on her face by Hotaru and pedicures and manicures were given by Anna and Nonoko. Mikan was already starting to feel the effects of the medicine as her limbs relaxed and her headache started numbing.

The wedding was going to begin at 11a.m. at the palace backyard so Mikan had approximately two hours to get ready and be there before the reporters and the rest of Japan showed up.

She had thought it would be enough time but she ended up rushing. After the facials were done, Anna took a whole hour to do her make-up, adding cat eyeliner and blended eye shadows. When she was done, Mikan was sure she would resemble a clown but somehow Anna had made it look like she had barely any makeup on while at the same time Mikan looked more like a princess than she thought possible with big hazel brown eyes and fair smooth skin. She was having trouble believing it really was her reflection staring back at her from the mirror.

Anna had taken up too much time so Mikan decided to simply curl her hair and leave it down or she would most likely be remembered in history as the princess who was late to her own wedding. Nonoko helped Mikan fit into her wedding dress and Mikan was glad for the simplicity the dress had, she had imagined ruffles and diamonds but the dress fit her like a glove and had a simple but elegant sequence of pearls at the bodice. She was surprised to find the dress had more of a silver tint then the pure white that brides like to have, maybe wedding dresses for a princesses were different. The only problem she found with it was that it was far too long and it trailed for at least a mile behind her and she was afraid of what that might mean for her long walk down the aisle.

Hotaru quickly strapped the matching and equally trailing cotton veil on Mikan's head along with the silver tiara and Mikan strapped on her silver heels before gathering up her long dress and comically making a beeline for the limo, there were only fifteen minutes till the wedding march started and although it was in the backyard she was informed that she needed to be seen coming out of a limo for showing purposes. Mikan breathed deeply in the car and rested her head back when the limo started moving. Beside her Hotaru clasped the last of her jewelry in place. A simple pearl necklace to match the design on the dress and long dangling diamond earrings the queen had given her as a pre-wedding present.

When the limo stopped Mikan felt her stomach twist and her headache come back, but she knew this was entirely for a different reason then the previous. She got out of the car and cameras flashed left and right sending an odd sense of déjà vu coursing through her. At least this time her hair wouldn't resemble a bird nest when her picture would be broadcasted live on every TV in the country.

Mikan froze as the wedding arch came into view and the red carpet drew closer.

"Hotaru," she said in a tight voice, "Who's walking me down the aisle?"

Hotaru grabbed the girl's bare arm to keep her moving, "you don't need one." She said.

Mikan hadn't thought about how she was going to be walking alone, Hotaru sensed the girl's form go rigid as she dragged her. She stopped moving and walked towards the large orchard where Anna, Nonoko, Ruka, Youichi dressed in a cute black vest and little girls with flower wreaths on their heads stood.

Hotaru turned Mikan to look at her, "you're going to be fine. I thought about asking Tsubasa-senpai to walk you but I think this walk should be done alone. Your dad would've walked you, think about that while you move down that aisle." Hotaru told her.

Mikan shook her head wildly, suddenly she was close to tears, she was overwhelmed, she was getting married, and it was really happening now, "Hotaru, I can't. I…I don't think I can do this."

Hotaru grabbed her shoulders, "Breathe." She urged.

Then in one of her unusually kind moments, Hotaru wrapped her arms around the rigid girl's form. She whispered in her hair, "this is _your_ wedding; I know you never imagined it to be like this and it may not be like other weddings where you're actually marrying for love, but this is your moment and it doesn't last long. No one cares what others think, just be yourself and be strong." And the girl released her.

Mikan knew that the slight hesitation Hotaru had while releasing her meant she didn't want this either, she wanted to stop it too. But they were at a loss, the eyes of the world were on them and they couldn't do anything drastic.

The bride took a deep breath and moved a little away to let Hotaru see her smile. Weddings were meant to be memories that last forever, it was a woman's most memorable day, her treasured recollection that she would look at years later and reminisce.

If nothing else Mikan received Hotaru's affection today and that would be something she would look back in years to come and smile about. The wedding theme started playing and she watched as Anna and Nonoko linked arms with two boys with matching light hair dressed in dark suits. She watched them walk down the aisle with a small smile slapped on her face for the cameras. Then Hotaru gave her hand a last squeeze and linked arms with Ruka and they both walked down together. Youichi followed behind them and she watched the flower girls run and dance after him.

And then it was the bride's turn.

Mikan took a deep breath and calmed herself. She looked up at the clear blue sky, it was odd that just last night she was freezing and was sure she would die from the cold and here the sun was shining in her face. She smelled the sweetness in the air from the thousands of flowers and the pastries waiting for her at the wedding table.

When her feet stepped on the red carpet and the age old wedding march began, she wondered with an eerie calm if this was it. Her freedom, her life, any hopes or dreams she had would have to die when she sealed her fate by uttering those two words. She didn't feel butterflies anymore, her senses had dulled, all she felt was a serene calmness. For a moment she laughed inwardly at herself, where other brides walked down to the altar ready to start a new life beside someone they loved she was going to end a normal life and begin a normal one by someone she barely understood.

But she smiled a genuine smile as the wedding march came to a close and she reached the altar, this was it, she may never get another chance to be a bride. When she stepped onto the white altar and looked at the beautiful pale arch above, the bride looked back towards the aisle that she came from. Later there would be tabloids and articles printed out about why the princess did this, where normal brides wouldn't be able to look away from the eyes of their groom, this princess bride had looked back, away from her prince and their future together. They would later call it a hesitation, or a falter in her decision, they would say it was from nerves, or a longing for a normal life that she would never again have.

But Mikan had look back upon instinct, in her mind's eye, she sees a solid form of her father smiling at her with shining eyes and the slight affectionate smile he would always wear when looking at her.

This would be where he handed her to Natsume. She takes a few steps up and just before she reaches the last step, she looks down at Natsume's outreached hand and turns back. And just like she had asked for his approval in every important occasion in her life as a young child, she looked back and silently asked one last time.

Her father smiles and nods at her gently, _go ahead_.

She smiles as the image disappears and turns back to grasp the prince's hand. _This is for you dad_, she says silently.

She didn't know what plan her father had for her. She had stopped trusting men because her father had abandoned her. Yet even though she felt betrayed, she couldn't stop caring and believing in him. He wouldn't make her walk into the face of danger; he wouldn't let anything hurt her so she couldn't make herself believe that he wouldn't make her do this unless he was sure that this was safe. She knew him enough to never doubt his love for her. So she breathed deeply and put her blind fate in him one last time knowing that if it broke, she would break with it.

Rings were exchanged and Mikan's hand shook just the slightest bit when Natsume put the ring on her finger, marking her as his.

But when the preacher asked her, she didn't hesitate at all and said, "I do." In a more confident voice then she thought possible.

Although when the priest said his next words, the butterflies exploded and her headache hit full force for a completely different reason then her sickness due to the cold.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride." He says to Natsume.

Natsume takes Mikan's shoulders and turns her to face him. Mikan looks at him with wide eyes, he wouldn't, would he? This was her first kiss.

But it was out of her hands. The cameras were following their every movement and they needed to look credible to the public. Mikan looked at him with terror for a moment and she noted that his eyes didn't hold their usual nonchalance. They were hiding something from her, they looked apologetic and for a moment she thought she saw anguish before she quickly shut her eyes and waited for it all to end.

The crown prince wrapped an arm around his bride and brought her close. He watched her eyelashes tremble just the slightest as he leaned in so that she could feel his breath on her face. The girl's arms shook and the groom was shocked to find that his bride was terrified. Natsume smirked slightly; this stupid girl who was fearless enough to punch him in the face was scared of getting kissed by him. He chuckled softly and made a split decision as he bent down to kiss the corner of her mouth.

Mikan's eyes flew open, to the cameras and the people watching them, it may look like they had kissed. But their lips didn't meet and when Natsume released her, he looked at her with a soft smirk. It didn't hold its usual arrogance or superiority; instead it was almost kind and seemingly apologetic.

His actions confused her almost as much as the expression he wore. She thought he would take this chance to tease her when she was too weak to do anything. But he had turned it all around and if anything, Mikan found the gesture sweet and almost kind. She knew he was aware of her fright and he didn't utilize that as a weapon against her as she would expect from him.

She smiled up at him in return. Weddings were meant to be unforgettable memories, beautiful treasures that a woman would look back to with nostalgia and happiness. Mikan had found that if she did look back on this day in years to come as other brides do, she would at least find kind gestures and remarkable moments at the very least.

And then the cameras flashed and people who she was sure didn't know her personally and those she had never laid eyes on before were hugging her and congratulating the couple. She was shoved right and left as people embraced her and sent her spinning into someone else's arms. She was starting to feel sick again until thankfully she landed in familiar arms.

"Waoh there, are you alright?" the person asked her.

Mikan looked up into endless blue eyes and gasped out, "Ruka? Yes, I'm alright." She said as he released his hold on her arms.

Hotaru took a hold of her hands then and squeezed them slightly; Mikan looked at her with a gratifying expression and smiled hugely. Hotaru didn't smile back but she looked at her with a soft expression, her eyes conveying emotions she would never word. That was the last of it and it was over. She had done it.

Now the real fight begins, Mikan realizes. She was officially the crown princess, she had gained power and she held the strength of the royal name and its seal behind her.

And just as these realizations came to her, she came face to face her hardest obstacle yet.

The queen had come to hug her in celebration and to introduce the last of the royal family to her.

Mikan turns to greet the last of the royal family. Her insides turn cold and she can't help but gawk; it was a woman, an exotically beautiful and dignified lady who couldn't be more than thirty. Yet when she looked at Mikan with her hazel brown eyes, it seemed like she was older, wiser. Like she knew things, and held secrets hidden behind curtains. She smiled at Mikan and next to her, she saw Natsume approach and stiffen when he catches sight of the elegant woman.

The exotic female comes up to Mikan and for a minute the crown princess watches as the mysterious woman's eyes shift to anger when she searches Mikan's features, but the look disappears quickly and Mikan wonders if she imagined it. The woman was dressed in a traditional red kimono, her hair kept in a twisted bun by hairpins. She comes forward so that there is half a foot between her and her new grand daughter-in-law and touches her shoulders.

"It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Mikan. I am the king's mother," she says smiling down at her.

And even though the smile was completely polite with no sinister edges, Mikan feels a shiver run down her spine and gets the odd sensation of wanting to slap the woman's cold hand away from her shoulder. But she composes herself and steels her abnormal emotions. Remembering Hotaru's teaching, Mikan folds her face into an expressionless mask and greets the woman with a platonic smile, "The pleasure's mine, queen mother." She bows lowly to the woman.

The queen mother watches her bow and her face twists into a sardonic look which she covers by putting a mahagony fan in front of her face. She turns to the side to lock eyes with Natsume and her smile deforms into a menacing one, she turns back to Mikan, who had straightened from her bow, "My, my, you look just like Yuka. But what a lovely couple the two of you make." She says, talking through the fan that covers half her face.

Natsume snaps his eyes to her in disgusted shock but Mikan not noticing his expression asks in astonishment, "Y-you know my m-mot-"

But her sentence gets cut off when the queen comes to stand beside her mother-in-law, "They do, don't they?" She turns to her son then and taunts, "Natsume, why haven't you asked Mikan to dance yet? Everyone is waiting for the two of you to have the first dance so they can start dancing."

Mikan looks at the queen in confusion; it seemed odd to bring that up when they had just started their greetings to the elder royal. She turns to look at Natsume quizzically but the prince was already beside her.

He starts practically dragging rather than leading her to the dance floor, she huffs at him, "Wait, I didn't even finish my greeting," she tells him.

The orchestra starts and Natsume pulls her into his arms but keeps enough distance between them so that their bodies don't touch, "That was good enough." He murmurs and starts swaying her to the music.

Mikan looks down at their feet to keep from stepping on his foot, "Wait. Slow down, I don't know how to dance!" She hisses.

He looks at her scornfully, "You haven't learned to dance yet? What have you been doing this past week with your tutors, you idiot girl?"

Mikan glowers at him, "I'm still learning to walk in a straight line with a book balanced on my head."

The prince snorts, "What? What kind of idiot needs practice for something so stupid?"

She snaps her gaze at him in fury, somehow she wasn't slipping and they had started to dance gracefully around the room. But she wasn't paying attention to their graceful dance or the flashes from the camera anymore, her entire attention was focused on her infuriating husband, "It's not as easy as it looks! Why don't you try it before labeling it as something stupid, you moronic prince."

Natsume breathes out in exasperation, "Unlike someone who has two left feet, I was born with grace and poise."

Mikan grumbles something incoherent looking away from the maddening boy, but she misses the genuine small smile he wears for just a moment until his face turns back to his signature impassive look, "Stay away from the queen mother."

Mikan cracks her neck by how quickly her head snaps up in surprise, "What? Why?"

"That," Natsume says spinning her and then bringing her back, closer then before, "you don't need to know."

Mikan feels her breath leave her lungs as they continue to sway to the music, this time as one body, "You can't expect me to listen to your orders. I need a reason." She manages to choke out.

Natsume looks down at her with annoyance, "She's dangerous, that's all you need to know. Besides, I'm your husband and the future king, by law you have to listen to me." He says the last sentence slowly like Mikan doesn't understand.

Mikan looks at him like he grew an extra head, "Seriously? Well then screw the law. What are you going to do, have me executed if I don't listen?"

Natsume spins her again and this time brings her close enough so that every part of their body is touching. He tightens his hold on her as they dance. The prince locks his jaw and mutters in response, "If only. You should know that I have power over you and in this relationship, you answer to me first, you respect me and you follow my orders. It was different when we were engaged, as my wife; you have to swear you devotion and loyalty to me."

Mikan looks at him with hard eyes, "No. The only orders I follow are my own, I listen requests, not commands. If I am to give you my loyalty, then you must give me yours in return. And as a matter of fact, you can't demand devotion, you have to earn it."

The song ends and before her newly wed husband can respond Mikan breaks free of his hold and leaves him alone on the dance floor.

She catches site of short purple hair and walks towards it. Hotaru was standing by the side wall that leads into the castle. As Mikan approaches she catches sight of a second figure, standing in front of maid of honor, hidden behind the shadows that came from the adjacent wall and trees.

Mikan starts to call out but when she recognizes the familiar blond hair, she stops and runs to hide behind the tree a few feet away from where she saw Hotaru standing.

Why were Hotaru and Ruka together? Did they know each other? Mikan wondered. She strained her ears to listen to their conversation.

"-don't tell me then I'll just find out myself." Hotaru says in a cold voice.

Mikan peaks from the side of the large tree trunk to see Ruka reach out for her.

Hotaru takes a step back and holds out her hand, "don't touch me." She tells him, her arms wrapped around herself.

Ruka's eyes look hurt for a minute, "It's out of my hands, Hotaru. I don't want to involve you in anything dangerous." His cheeks were red from exasperation.

"Fine. Let's cut all ties." Hotaru says moving away from the blonde, her dress swaying prettily as she moved.

Ruka grabs her wrist, "What the hell, Hotaru? You want to break our engagement because of something like this?"

The amythest eyed girl tries to free her wrist but when Ruka's hold on it tightens, she gives up and turns to him with cold features, "This isn't just anything, its something important to me. What are you and Hyuuga trying so hard to hide from me? Why can't I know, is it because of Mikan?"

Ruka looks at her with frustration, "Yes. That's part of the reason. This involves her and I know that if you find out, you would go tell her."

Hotaru purses her lips and violently frees her wrist from her fiance's grasp. "I would. And I will. I'm going to find out one way or another whatever's going on. Mysteries and conspiracies be damned, I'm going to make sure she knows the truth of whatever your hiding. If you choose to stand in my way, you'll be a dead man, Nogi."

Ruka tries to grab for her again but Hotaru moves quickly, avoiding him and walking towards Mikan's tree. Mikan squirms in place, trying to conceal herself with twigs and leaves but her best friend doesn't even look her way as she walks right up to her and grabs her wrist dragging her to the buffet.

Hotaru fills up two plates with crab cakes, handing one to Mikan and drags her to an empty table. When they sit, Hotaru grabs the plate from Mikan and starts devouring the food in it.

Mikan watches, head resting on her folded hands on the table. She knew Hotaru had been aware of her eavesdropping, and she wasn't exactly sure if she was mad at her. After Hotaru was done with her first plate, and was starting her second one, Mikan spoke, "So, you and Ruka, huh?" She says lightly and reaches for a crab cake from across the table.

Hotaru smacks her hand away, "It's a political engagement. His father invested in my inventions."

Mikan grinned rubbing her sore hand, "Really?" She drawls, "_Just_ a political engagement?" She asks, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

Hotaru doesn't look away from her crab cakes as she answers monotonously, "Are you deaf? Do I have to repeat myself?"

The bride pouts, "Hotaru! I'm your best friend! How could you not tell me you had a fiancé?" She yells at her.

Hotaru still doesn't look at her, "Must I remind you that I didn't know about your engagement either?"

Mikan presses her lips together, that was true. "Fine, you have a point. But you can tell me now. How long have you known each other? Do you like him? I know you like him, the way you looked at him shows that you li-"

Hotaru cuts her off, "I met him in Paris two years ago. I found out his father was the senator and he showed interest in my inventions. Words were said, plans were made and we got engaged a year later." She looks at her for a moment, "Why are you so hyper? Shouldn't the effects of the pill start wearing off by now?"

The brunette makes an ugly face, "It is, I'm holding on through will power. But Hotaru! That makes no sense! You got engaged because of something like that?"

Hotaru rubs the irony of her statement in her face again, "And you got married because of what? A letter, an assumption, a shady plot?"

The exasperated girl smacks her head on the table, "I give up. Fine. But tell me that you at least like him."

The maid of honor looks away as she answers, "Ruka is…he's different. He's honest and genuine. He's not double faced like everyone else with power."

Mikan grins smugly, "So you like him!"

Hotaru narrows her eyes, "I never said that."

"You didn't have to," Mikan says blowing curled bangs away from her face.

Hotaru looks behind the brunette and changed the subject, "You did well. You're married, congratulations."

"What kind of a congratulatory wish is that?" Mikan mutters.

"Well, there's no going back now. You'll have bigger feats to overcome now. What happened in the horse barn may be the easiest problem you encounter from now on."

Mikan makes a face remembering the incident, "Hotaru, when Natsume brought me back, did he say anything about who locked me in?"

"No. Why? Do you think it was him?"

Mikan shook her head, "No. The person was taller, leaner; he had a different aura around him."

"You didn't even see him. How can you make inferences already?"

"I just know it isn't Natsume. But it's weird don't you think?"

"What is?" Hotaru asks taking a sip of her lemonade.

Mikan looks at the table with narrowed eyes, "How did Natsume know where to find us? What was he doing at dawn by the east palace?"

Hotaru is about to answer but at that moment the king comes by and she kicks the bride from under the table. Mikan looks up at her in confusion but she notices the king standing next to the table and clears her expressions.

Mikan gets up and bows quickly, "Your highness." She says.

The king laughs lightly, "You don't have to bow anymore, I can't have my daughter-in-law do that without looking like a menacing father." He says.

Mikan is surprised by the king's easygoing tone. He always had a distance when it came to her. She had thought his personality was just reserved but he was talking so naturally and laid back.

He takes something out of his back pocket and hands it to her, "here, it's my wedding present to you."

The bride takes the small velvet box from him and opens it. A small necklace in the shape of the royal seal lies with in it. Mikan looks up at the king in question; the king smiles down at her kindly and something about the look in his eyes reminds her of her own father. Her throat closes up as the king says, "Wear it at all times." He tells her and turns to leave.

Mikan looks down at the beautiful necklace; the royal seal was in the color of the sky with rhinestones on each side clasped in a silver chain. This necklace was familiar. She didn't know how or from where but somewhere hidden in some forgotten childhood memory, she had seen this same necklace before.

"A necklace? Why would he give you that?" Hotaru asks, looking at the chain in confusion.

Mikan shakes her head, "I don't know."

**~;~**

Natsume jerks his door close with a kick. He walks to his bed and falls face first on the mattress. He wants the day to end already, it started horribly and now it was ending terribly.

He didn't understand what the big deal over weddings were, they seemed so pointless to him. Men just needed an excuse to get drunk and women wanted to get together and gossip.

He had just thrown a drunken Ruka in a taxi. He grimaced as the flashback comes to him while lying on his bed.

_The after party was held in the palace ball room. There were tables in the middle decorated by flowers and candles. Flowers decorated just about every isolated area of the room. Pillars, corners, centerpieces, they were even on chandeliers. _

_Servers would serve wine or other alcoholic beverages to the guests and it seemed as though Ruka had used that to his advantage._

_He had sat Natsume, Koko and Kitsuneme down to have drinks with him. Koko and Kitsuneme happily obliged but Natsume refused when he saw the rate at which Ruka was drinking. He had started out with shots but now he was drinking straight from the bottle. _

_When his best man reached for the second bottle Natsume knew that was enough. Ruka had no tolerance to alcohol, a single shot was enough to get him drunk yet he was drowning bottles. _

_He took the bottle away, "That's enough Ruka." He told him sternly._

_Ruka reached out for the bottle much like a child trying to grab just one more cookie from the jar, "No, give it back, you jerk!" _

_Natsume sighed and gave the bottle to Koko who happily accepted it, "You're already drunk, you're going to get yourself sick." He tried to be reasonable._

"_I'm not drunk! I still have my wit intact!" He bellowed and stomped his foot like a child._

_Natsume put a hand over his eyes, "Dude, your making me look bad. Come on," He hoisted the drunk boy up from the chair and after a few minutes of protests the boy slumped against Natsume._

_The groom led his drunken best man out of the room, and from the corner of his eyes he saw his bride sitting with her bridesmaid laughing heartily at something they said._

"_You're looking at her, aren't you?" Ruka muttered, his eyes slit as he regarded Natsume._

_Natsume pushed the door open and walked out dragging Ruka's arm over his shoulder; _

_He didn't answer him as he led him outside. The night had become chilly now._

_Ruka violently extracted his arm and looked at him suspiciously, "You were looking at Mikan, right?"_

_Natsume turns to him, putting his hands in his pocket, "I don't know, I was distracted by a drunken idiot."_

_Ruka turns to him with sad eyes, "If you weren't looking at Mikan then that means you were staring at Hotaru. Is that how it's going to be now, Natsume?"_

"_What?"_

"_I'm not giving her up! I'm going to fight you." Ruka tries to throw a punch but his reflexes had dulled to such an extent that he almost falls to the ground._

_Natsume pinches the bridge of his nose, "Ok, that's it. Get in the cab." He pushes the drunken inside the yellow cab and throws a wad of money at the driver after saying the address._

"_Wait, I can't go yet. Hotaru's still mad at me! I have to tell her I love her." He says hitting the back of the seat while Natsume shuts the door and the cab drives off into the night._

"_Idiot." He mutters and walks back inside. He was no longer in the mood for celebrating a completely false and fake wedding. Without wishing farewell to anyone at the party, the newly wed groom made his way directly to his room._

Yes. Pointless things these nonsensical weddings were.

He gets out of bed, untying his bow and throwing his coat over the chair. He had started unbuttoning his vest when he heard a loud thump come from the room next to his.

That could only be one idiot. He runs to the end wall and tries to open the door that connected their two rooms but alas, he finds it locked, most likely the work of his stupid wife.

He runs out the balcony and with a single graceful jump lands squarely on her terrace. He slides back the glass door, looking around for a girl in white.

He finds a mass of white fluff on the floor by the bed. He walks to it and as he gets closer, the mass transforms into a body wearing a white dress. He bends down to see Mikan's forehead filled with sweat and her lips pale blue. His eyebrows furrow and he quickly picks her up by the shoulders.

She groans and opens her large hazel brown eyes to look at him, "What? Natsume? What are you doing here?" she asks weakly pushing him away.

He grabs her shoulders and puts an arm under her knees as he picks her up and hoists her on the bed, where she falls on her face, "what were you doing on the floor?" He asks in return.

Mikan sits up and glowers at him, "The medicine wore off. You can go now, thank you for your help." She dismisses him quickly.

Natsume walks towards the balcony door and turns around, remembering their earlier conversation, his face turns conflicted as he says, "I won't demand anything, I don't need your loyalty, I've lived long enough without devotion from others and I'm perfectly fine without it." He says and starts to walk out but his wife's words stop him before he reaches the glass door.

"You're not." She says softly.

He turns around, "What?"

"You're not okay. You've lived without genuine emotion for eighteen years and you've become a ball of ice, how do you define that as okay?" She says looking at him with unwavering eyes.

Natsume fists his hands, "If you want to survive, you'll do good to follow my example. In this place when you're cold to others, they know you're strong and their words won't affect you."

"But they do affect you. You just hide it."

Natsume looks up angrily, "They have little effect on me. Their words have become meaningless now."

Mikan gets up from her bed, her face still covered in sweat and her breaths uneven, "Instead of demanding something of me. You can ask me. Ask me for loyalty, I'll give it to you; it doesn't hurt me to give. And it won't hurt you to let your defenses down."

Natsume watches her struggle to stand straight with her feverish body. Somehow, she still looked beautiful. Her eyes looked wider and more hazel, her skin brighter even with her sickness. "Why do you even care?" He asks, looking away from her. She always wore her feelings so plainly, genuinely. She would shatter so easily in this rough place.

She shook her head, swaying her hair; her veil was discarded on the floor along with the tiara, "I don't know. All I know is that you're not bad, but you try to make it look like you are," She says, her cheeks getting darker from the fever most likely.

"Really? I'm not bad? Are you sure about that?" He asks her in a hard voice.

The girl stands her ground, "Yes, I'm sure. You're an idiot, and a moron but you're not evil or cruel. I want to be friends with you, I have my reasons for wanting to stay in this palace and having a friend rather than a foe would make it easier for me."

Natsume walks closer towards the balcony, "Well I have no room for friends. And I advise you to pick better ones next time. Our relationship isn't real, I'll divorce you one day and our marriage is only a marriage in the public's eyes, I have no intention of giving you affection I'm not capable of."

Mikan walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder from behind, "You don't know how to ask. Is that it?" She asks him.

Natsume turns to her slowly in shock, "What?"

Mikan smiles smugly, as the realization comes to her. Her face covered with gleaming sweat, her hair sticking to the back of her neck, she says with a clear voice, "You're royalty, you've never asked for anything. You've demanded it. That's why you don't know how to ask now." She explains.

Natsume's tawny eyes regard her as a parasite but she ignores it and continues, "You may be a prince but I am a princess now. You'll have to treat me as an equal regardless of what rules say," She smiles dimply at him and Natsume gets distracted for a moment as tiny dimples etch into her cheeks, "you have my loyalty from today onwards, even if you didn't word it, I know you'll need it. And I'll try my best to earn yours."

Natsume looks down at her with thawing emotions, he tries to keep his face cool and masked but when he feels his expression crack, he turns away quickly, "I don't need loyalty from the likes of a moron," And he walks out the room and jumps quickly to his own balcony. He shuts the door behind him and throws off his vest and unbuttons his ivory shirt as he falls to his bed.

For once, there was something he wanted to turn off more then his thoughts. He wanted to shut down his stupid emotions that were falling all over the place. He fisted his soft bed sheet in his hands and threw a pillow over his head as he tried to fall into a dark chasm where there were no wide hazel eyes or pink cheeks and dimpled smiles to cloud his sanity.

She was just a stupid girl. A naïve moron. A ditzy idiot.

An idiot who could see right through him. A moron that understood his feelings too well. A girl so stupid, her judgment and reason was strong enough to cloud over his logic.

He dreamed of long brown hair and deep hazel eyes that night.

**~;~**

**A/N: Sigh. It feels good to finish another chapter. So there you are **_gabsterela__**,**_** I meant the mother of the king or the grandmother of the prince by 'Queen Mother,' sorry for the confusion.**

**And special thanks to** _chainedheart999_ **for letting me know that it's actually 'Mirakuru,' not 'Miraku,' whoops. Okay, time to study for that biology exam now.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Gakuen Alice**_** or **_**Goong**_** also known as **_**Princess Hours.**_

Chapter 8: Conflicted Feelings

"_I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."_

_~John Green_

Mikan awoke the next morning groggy and restless. She was still wearing her wedding dress and she was sure she looked like something out of a horror movie especially since her curls looked more like day old spaghetti now.

"Your Highness, its ten in the morning, you missed breakfast." Anna says dusting the painting by the bedside wall.

Mikan rubs her sore eyes and sits up, she was still feeling sick, her stomach was queasy and her head felt like someone was hammering a nail in it. She moans and Nonoko hands her a glass of water. Mikan gives her a grateful smile before gulping the glass down.

"I don't feel so good. Can't I rest a little longer?" She asks her maids.

Anna and Nonoko exchange a glance, "I wish we could say yes but, it's just that there's a lot planned for you this week." Anna smiles sympathetically.

"A lot?" She looks at them in bewilderment, "I just got married," she huffs looking at the diamond ring on her finger. She falls back into bed, pulling the covers around her.

"That's the thing, now that you're a princess, everyone wants to know you." Anna laughs and grabs the covers pulling them away from her.

Mikan recoils, cold without the blankets, she glares at her amused maids.

"You have interviews, charity balls, guest appearances, and almost a dozen parties scheduled for the next month. I don't think they'll let you get off with a cold anymore, your highness." Nonoko laughs and pulls Mikan by the hand.

Mikan relents and lets her pull her off the bed, "Seriosuly? First it was 'Mikan-sama' and now you're going to call me 'your highness'?"

Anna smiles and starts fixing her bed sheets, "Well you do officially have the title of the princess now."

Mikan glowers and makes her way to the bathroom, "Fine, then my first order is to never again call me your highness." She sends them both a sad look, "its stifling already in this place." And she disappears through the door.

**~;~**

"What don't you understand? I've already explained the concept four times." Nobara exhales in exasperation.

Mikan cringes, they had moved on to economics, which meant math and calculations. To say the least, math wasn't her strongest point. Okay, scratch that, she sucked with numbers.

It didn't help that her head was still pounding, she sighs miserably, "I'm sorry Nobara, just once more, I promise I'll get it this time," or burn the book, she promises herself eying the garbage green textbook.

"Fine." Nobara concedes, "Then from the beginning," she points to the same graphical equation Mikan had been staring at for the past hour.

Misaki wasn't any better. If anything, her tutoring session was worse. Mikan had the nagging suspicion she was still angry at her for ditching their last session when her redheaded tutor made her walk around the perimeter of the castle wearing an extra heavy kimono and about a dozen books atop her head. To the people watching her it was comical but Mikan's head already felt heavy without the pressure of the books on it. After the fifth fall Misaki ordered her to start over from the front gates of the palace.

And that was how her week passed by. When she wasn't burning a hole in her econ book or frying her brain trying to solve questions she was convinced had absolutely nothing to do with Japan's economy, she was falling and bruising her frail body.

And to top it off she hadn't so much as seen a hair of Youichi and Natsume, and not even Hotaru had shown up since the wedding. She ate breakfast and lunch by herself and dinner she always ended up skipping, she would be in the same room from morning to night.

_It wouldn't hurt them to stop by,_ Mikan thought a bit wounded. She sighs and finishes applying ointment on her right foot and bandages it. She picks up the other bandage from the edge of her bed beside her and starts on her left foot when a knock comes from the door. She frowns and ignores it, she was always in a sour mood at this time and she didn't want to see anyone knowing she might say something she'll regret.

She hears the door open and footsteps saunter in without her permission, she looks up baffled; there could only be one person who would dare to do that. She turns to lock eyes with her newlywed husband.

Natsume leans idly by the wall parallel to her staring down at her injured foot. "Go away. I'm in no mood to entertain you." She tells him coldly and continues wrapping a bandage on her bruised foot.

"You're doing it wrong," Natsume murmurs stoically.

Mikan sighs in irritation and pulls the bandage off with force hurting her tender foot. She winces a little but starts wrapping it again quickly fumbling with her hands.

She feels warm hands over her scuffling ones that gently take the bandage from her grasp. She snaps up her gaze at the owner of those hands. Natsume kneels on his knees from beside her bed and starts to expertly bind the white rap over her foot, his bangs covering his eyes. Mikan tries to pull away but she was already too weak and she had to admit he was doing a better job then she could.

He finishes bandaging and starts on the other one. "This one's okay," Mikan tells him quickly and takes back her clumsily bandaged foot, her heart fluttering from where his hands touched.

He doesn't argue and gets back up on his feet. He throws a brown paper bag on her bed, "Don't miss dinner anymore." He tells her looking at her once with smoldering eyes and then turns to leave.

"I've been sick." _Smooth Mikan, show him how much it bothers you that he isn't showing concern. _Mikan inwardly hits the irritating voice.

He looks at her once, his eyes unreadable, "There's medicine in there, take it after you eat." He tells her and opens the door to leave.

"Natsume, wait." She calls after him. He stops in his footsteps but doesn't turn. Mikan bites her lip and secretely smacks herself, _why did you tell him to wait?! _Her subconscious bellow.

"Umm, t-thank you." she says sincerely, "And good night." She adds before he leaves.

When the door shuts behind him Mikan falls on her bed face flat and groans, her voice muffled by the soft fabric, _that was so stupid, I sounded like an idiot._

_At least you know you moronically helpless chit. _The annoying voice answers, not missing a beat.

_Moronically? Is that even a word? _Mikan asks it_. _

_You're talking to yourself so who the hell cares? _It responds back.

She slugs over her bed like a caterpillar, her cheeks flaming. She sighs, her exhaustion thrown out the window by a boy with eyes far too red. She rolls around feeling giddy and nervous at the same time for unknown reasons. _This castle is driving me insane_, Mikan thinks to herself as she looks down at her perfectly bandaged foot.

She picks up the brown bag and pulls out a thick circular wrapped object. Hamburgers_, is that all the food he knows?_ Mikan wonders as she bites into the thick meaty burger.

She eats half the burger before deciding its better not to push her stomach and grabs the medicine all the way at the end of the bag. She pops the pill into her mouth and chokes it down with a glass of water.

She rolls around trying to catch sleep but feels too awake for eleven thirty at night. Her eyes keep drifting to the brown paper bag with the rest of the burger and the medicine in it.

_He brought me food_, Mikan can't help the silly smile that blooms on her face every time she looks at the bag. She didn't know why it made her so giddy, it wasn't the first time someone brought her food; it wasn't even the first time he had brought her food. But she felt so special.

She fell asleep with her face turned towards the bag sitting on her counter.

~;~

"She's not eating anything."

"Force it down her throat, how much strength can a girl have over you?"

Persona sighs, "I've tried but she's throwing up whatever's forced. It's been three days since she's had a proper meal."

The queen mother clicks her tongue and throws her wooden fan across the room where it hits the cement wall and breaks into pieces; she whirls towards the man kneeling in front of her, "take me to her." She orders.

Persona nods and gets up; he walks to the end of the room and pushes a brick in the end wall. He steps back as the wall divides in two, each side pushing apart, and opening like elevator doors revealing a long dark staircase.

He descends down the stairs, a woman in a heavy purple kimono following after him. The end of the staircase leads to a long dim hallway that stops at a steel door with a small black lock.

Persona unlocks the door and steps aside to let queen mother enter. She walks in without hesitation not stopping until she's right in front of a twin bed where the body of a young girl lies.

"Get up." she commands.

The girl stirs and opens her large red eyes. She looks around for the voice, "Whose there?" She asks to the darkness.

Her question goes ignored, "I hear you haven't been eating."

The girl gulps looking at the direction of the voice, "I know you. I've heard your voice in my nightmares before."

"I'm sure you have." Queen mother remarks and turns towards the man she came with "get her up," she orders.

Persona walks up to the bed and reaches for the girl but she flinches away, "I can get up myself," she tells them both and sits up on the bed.

"Good. Now eat this." She throws a clear plastic bag with a sandwich in it on her bed.

The girl stares down at it making no move to eat it. She was powerless she knew that, she was weak she had learnt long ago, but she was a fighter she had felt it in her blood. And this was her rebellion. Her silent revolt, she wouldn't listen to anyone, she doesn't take orders from anyone.

Persona seems to hear her silent thoughts, he moves closer, "Eat it, Aoi," he tells her in a hard voice but she can hear the plea beneath the surface. Aoi knew from years of staying by his side that he didn't fear anyone or anything but this one woman.

But she was done listening. No one gave her any answers and she was slowly starting to forget the answers she knew. The images that came from her broken memory were fading and she was fighting to hold on to them for dear life.

She turns her head away, looking in a different direction not knowing what she was seeing.

She felt someone come closer, they stop a few inches from her. "I'm not a very patient woman. I'll only repeat myself one more time. Eat." She commands in her hard voice.

Aoi turns her head away, refusing to even speak.

The next thing she knew a hand had collided with her cheek. She fell back on her bed from the pressure and her hand flies to her tingling cheek which was quickly turning red. Her eyes watered from the pain and she turns her face away, hiding it behind her thick black hair.

"Eat." She commands again.

Aoi doesn't respond, this time because she can't find her voice.

Another slap and she tastes blood from her torn lip but she turns her head away again.

She feels someone grab her hands and squeeze them painfully. "Just eat it, Aoi." The voice was Persona's and this time he was outright pleading with her.

No, she wanted to tell him. I don't want to.

"I can keep this up all day. Eat the sandwich. Now." The command comes again.

Aoi looks at the sandwich, her stomach growling from hunger. She turns her gaze sharply in the direction of the woman's voice, "Hell no." She speaks in an even voice.

She feels a sharp intake of breath and the same woman talks again, "Persona, bring me the whip."

"Your highness, she's-"

"I said. Bring me the whip."

Aoi didn't know which was worse, that this woman was going to torture her or that someone like Persona was begging for her.

"I'll make her eat the food, I promise."

"Then do you want to be whipped in her place?" The queen mother asks in a cold unfeeling voice.

Aoi gets off the bed, the sandwich fisted in her palm. She couldn't see where the woman stood but she knew that she couldn't be far. She opens the bag and grabs the sandwich and with all the strength she could muster, she throws the bread across the room.

The sandwich hits the side wall, missing the queen mother's cheek by a centimeter.

Aoi breathes rapidly, it was the most she had moved in months, and especially now that she was weak, her strength was almost all gone. "You can beat me to a pulp. But I swear on my name that I will never again listen to you."

The queen mother snorts, "Your name? What power do you think that has?" She sneers.

Aoi straightens, her back arches with pride and dignity, "I don't know, but it's the only truth I know, so I swear by it, you manipulative b****."

The woman smiles a large hard smile, "Persona, whip. Now!" She hisses.

Aoi swallows a little but doesn't move. She wasn't going to relent. Not today, not ever again.

She didn't sleep that night; her body writhed in pain all night from the large gaping wounds all over her body.

~;~

"_Why won't you listen to me? I only do what's best for you." A dark silhouette asked Mikan._

_Mikan kept quiet, her chin down. Her hair was a mess; it stuck to the back of her neck and to her forehead in clumps. Her hands were tied up by silver chains; she could feel her wrists bruising where the cold metal was kissing them._

_Whiplash. It hit her soft back._

_She flinched and gasped but didn't scream. _

_Another whiplash._

"_I don't ask much of you. Small simple things, can't you even give me that much?"_

_Mikan didn't answer. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't because the woman whipped her again._

_The whip hit the back of her head and her vision darkened, lights exploded and a sharp pain went through her body._

_She breathed heavily as the pain slowly drifted to a dull ache. Unable to stop herself she looked up at her attacker._

_Hazel brown eyes._

_That was all she saw, eyes which were identical to hers._

_They were the ones she looked at as a child. _

_But where there should have been love and tenderness there was malevolence and cruelty._

_The whip went back and she closed her eyes getting ready for the impact._

Mikan awoke drenched in sweat. She gasps out, her lungs aching and her throat felt like it was on fire.

_What-what was that?_

She shiveres remembering the cold hazel eyes from the nightmare. Did she just dream that her mother was whipping her?

She really was going insane. Mikan throws the covers away from her sweaty body and flickers on her light lamp being unable to stay in the dark without having haunting images.

She gets off the bed and walks out to her balcony breathing in the night air she looks up at the stars and can't help but let her gaze drift to the side towards the balcony besides hers.

She notices his lights are still on. She furrows her eyebrows, it wasn't even dawn yet, what was he doing up so late?

Mikan moves to the edge of her balcony and tries to peer inside the room but other than a bright yellow light she can't see anything.

Without thinking about it she steps over the railing, _this will hurt so much if I fall,_ she thinks to herself before walking the small distance onto the roof and climbing onto Natsume's balcony.

She steps onto the terrace and gazes through the glass double doors, she spots him on the bed with a book on his lap. His head was bent and he was scribbling furiously in his notebook, glancing at the textbook only for a few moments.

Mikan fascinated with the scene watches him for a few moments; he presses the eraser side of his pencil to his lips, and then taps his chin with it as he ponders over a question before he starts scribbling again.

Her hands touch the doorknob and for a moment she marvels on twisting the knob and stepping inside the room. It's not like it would be too weird, they were married and he was awake, if she wanted company what's wrong with going to her husband for it?

But of course it would be odd. She was already over her head for even coming here at this time of the night. What was she thinking?

Mikan takes one last look and moves back but it was too late, Natsume looked up at the same moment that she stepped back.

He walks up to the door and hastily slides it open, he looks at her for a long moment as though he can't believe it's really her.

"What are you doing here?" He asks still in shock.

Mikan wraps her arms around her consciously, she smiles up at him, "I couldn't sleep."

"What?"

She ignores the question and moves away from him to look through the glass doors as though she hadn't been staring through them for the past fifteen minutes, "Are you doing homework?" She asks in mock bewilderment.

He grunts and blocks her view with his body, "What do you mean you can't sleep?" He questions again.

"Nightmares," she explains, waving a hand nonchalantly. She evades him and moves towards the room, "It's really cold, mind if I come in?" she asks even though she's already stepped through the door.

She walks towards his bed covered with books opened at random pages and papers thrown everywhere, "I didn't think his royal highness did _homework_?" she snickers.

"His royal highness needs to pass high school just like everyone else." Natsume explains as he comes to stand behind her.

She turns towards him and says sheepishly, "sorry, you're trying to do your homework and I'm disrupting your thinking."

"It wouldn't be the first time you disrupted my thinking."

"What?" she asks in confusion.

Natsume looks mortified for a minute before he smoothes down his expressions, "nothing."

He walks to his bed and sits down with a thump. Mikan watches him feeling awkward as she stands so she looks around the place to find somewhere to sit.

Natsume notices her distraught, "What did you dream about?" he asks her suddenly.

Mikan turns to him caught off guard by the question, "I-It was weird." She stammers.

He looks down at his book as he talks, "Just tell me. Once you let it out you'll be able to sleep again."

Mikan raises her eyebrows and he looks up at her.

He makes a face, "What? You're going to need all your sleep for tomorrow's party."

"Party?" This was news to her.

"The king and queen invited Japanese politicians and foreign guests for a late wedding party; it's more like your debut so you're going to need your wits intact if you don't want to embarrass Japan worldwide." He tells her while scribbling something in his notebook.

She ignores the somersaults her stomach does at this new piece of information and instead distracts herself with something else, "Natsume, why do you call your parents the king and queen?" she asks curiously.

He stops writing and looks up at her, "You won't answer my question, why should I answer any of yours?"

She rolls her eyes and smiles a bit. He can be so childish sometimes. She walks over to the bed tired of standing, she moves his papers away so they aren't all over the bed and she has space to sit.

Natsume scowls but doesn't tell her to stop. She sits a few feet away from him on his large bed, resting her head back she glances at the textbook in his lap, Calculus. Bleh.

"I dreamed I was being tortured." Mikan says softly looking at the ceiling as she remembers her nightmare. Natsume stiffens and whirls his head towards her, his gaze firm.

"Someone was whipping me, they…she looked like my mother." She frowns remembering the cold eyes. "I don't know what this means or what sign I'm supposed to be getting…" she blinks and scratches her head in confusion.

Natsume looks back at his textbook, his expression conflicted. From the corner of his eye he watches Mikan sigh and hit her head back, dark circles under her eyes.

"It's the rule, when someone gains a royal title they can only be referred to with the title they carry," he starts telling her. Mikan turns to see his expression but his face was as vacant as ever.

"Why?" she can't help but ask.

She watches his face twist into a frown, "It shows that it trumps everything, before she's a wife or a mother, she's the queen." He explains sourly and melts away his expressions into a cold indifferent mask.

Mikan frowns too, "Well that's just stupid."

Natsume turns to her in amusement. She hackles with realization, "Does this mean I have to call you prince and you have to call me princess? She asks horrified.

He seems to think about her statement for a minute, "I don't think it matters what you call me but I'd rather call you polka dots then princess."

Mikan bristles, "What?!" She shrieks.

Natsume feels an odd sensation bubbling in his throat, it isn't foreign but it's not as familiar as the feeling of laughter is meant to be.

"Hey, when one day you do become king, what do you want to do the most?" She asks him suddenly.

Natsume looks at her quizzically; she smiles her usual gentle smile making his heart pace quicker. "It's just that if I would be queen one day, I want to open more howalon stands in Japan, especially in orphanages," she tells him.

Natsume snickers, unable to control his tiny laugh, "Those weird sugar sweets? Seriously, polka dots?"

Mikan feels the need to poke her tongue out like a child but she bites down the want, "You probably have never eaten a fluff puff. It has the power to make you dream, you know."

"Oh I'm sure it does." He smirks slightly and looks at his book, "When I become king, the first thing I plan to do is change the traditions."

Mikan nods remembering how ridiculous she had thought it was when those two men in black explained how the crown prince has to marry after his coronation simply because its tradition.

She yawns, feeling sleepy suddenly; she slides down from a sitting position to a lying one.

"Oi, go to your own room if you want to sleep," her husband pokes her with his pencil.

Mikan's eyelids get heavy so she lets them close and murmurs to him, "I don't want to, I told you I have nightmares."

That makes him stop. Her breathings get slower and more even, and when he's sure she's asleep he takes the soft blue blanket and puts it over her tiny form.

She cracks an eye open as he adjusts the covers and gives him a tiny smile making him stop what he's doing, "for what it counts, I think you're going to be a great king someday." She says before going still and a moment later he hears soft snores.

His heart rate accelerates and for just a second he lets himself feel lighthearted and lets the small smile that had been threatening all night to break bloom on his lips. He settles back into his earlier position, his shoulders relaxing as he sneaks glances at the beautiful girl sleeping soundly without a care in the world.

He knew he would have to let her go one day, it was why he refused to get any closer to her or make promises he may never be able to keep. But as he watches her sleep, his resolution starts chipping off. He knew his responsibilities and obligations; he had been taught them at a tender age so he was aware that the life of a royal was lonely, a leader had to be cold and calculating, that he couldn't let his heart be moved by anything. That he should never make attachments that he couldn't easily break.

But as he watched the strange, bright girl sleep beside him, he realized that no royalty, whether king or prince should ever care for someone the way he was starting to care for her.

**A/N: This chapter was more of a filler, but yay for Natsume and Mikan bonding…I guess. It's hard to make characters fall in love (in a believable way), especially someone like Natsume, he can be such a brick sometimes. But its fun exploring the different ways and I love working with opposite characters, Natsume's a big softie but it's hard to show his soft side without making him OOC and end up making you guys gag.**

**I actually wrote this chapter today so there are probably a million and one mistakes, I will not be able to update within the next two to three weeks because finals (bleh!) are coming and ALL my professors have decided to pile up homework on me so I apologize in advance but hey after the demented tests are over its winter break! And then I can actually post chapters that move the mystery along, sorry if this one confused you more, I promise there is a point to it.**

**And if your still reading this long post then thank you everyone for all your support, your reviews are like tiny treasures to me and I wish you all happy holidays in advance (in case I miss the chance to say it later.) Thanks, Love you guys!**

**~WindowofDreams**


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